GH�1m For Data Entry Training

Haruna Iddrisu, Minister of Communications, has hinted that government is making available an amount of GH�1million from a supplementary budget for the training of data entry clerks. The funding, which would be channeled through the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP), would provide both employment to the youth while simultaneously facilitating the capturing of vital data in key public institutions. The minister dropped the hint while witnessing the signing and exchanging of documents regarding the replication of the rLG and NYEP partnership in Osun State in Nigeria. �Imagine police stations fitted with data entry facilities. They would enable the capturing of vital data and support the work of the police,� he said. He doffed his hat for the progress made in the rLG/NYEP partnership in equipping the youth with skills for self-employment, module which he noted was going to be replicated in Nigeria. Given the success story of the NYEP, the minister paid tribute to the originators of the programme for thinking out a valuable initiative, the source of employment to many persons today. Nigeria, he said, has a lot to learn from Ghana, especially in the area of equipping the youth with employment skills. He reiterated the importance of Information Communication Technology (ICT) in the area of equipping the youth with employment, adding that government has taken a step towards enhancing government/private sector partnership. This, he announced, has been address at cabinet level to underscore the importance of the subject regardless of a budget deficit. The project, he said, is expected to take off between September and early next year. Policy intervention is useful only if it is responsive to the needs of the people, he said, adding that ICT is a global phenomenon. According to him, the training of the youth in the area of ICT, would prepare them for the global market. The rLG company has landed a juicy contract to train the youth in Osun State in Nigeria with the possibility of the programme being replicated in other states, and the company is on the way to becoming the most successful indigenous organisation in the West African sub-region having established already in the Gambia. The programme entails training the youth in mobile phone technology, including ICT.