Three hundred youth from Koforidua, Suhum and its environment have been presented with training tools to enable them undergo a three-year apprenticeship training in their choice of trade.
The training programme dubbed “Youth Apprenticeship Programme (YAP), an initiative of Sinapi Aba, a non-banking financial institution in the country is aimed at helping to inculcate skills and entrepreneurial spirit in the youth.
Beneficiaries of the programme who are mostly Junior High School graduates are being trained in a trade of their choices such as dressmaking/tailoring, hairdressing, aluminium fabrication and welding, auto-electrical, auto-mechanic, tile laying and catering among others.
Speaking at the training tools presentation ceremony on Monday at Suhum, the YAP Coordinator, Mrs Margaret Owusu Asare, was upbeat that the training would help the beneficiaries to be economically empowered after their training.
She stated that what excited her most was the fact that the training would help reduce poverty and unemployment which were very high in the Koforidua, Suhum and its surrounding communities.
The YAP Coordinator stated that the training initiative was part of an effort to complement the government’s effort at promoting skill acquisition by the youth through Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) education across the country.
The Akyempemhene of Suhum, Nana Barima Amoako Darko, lauded Sinapi Aba for the training support which will go a long way to provide the youth with different avenues for development other than the regular education offered in grammar schools.
Again he said “this support would go a long way to reduce unemployment in the country and Suhum in particular”
He encouraged the trainees to be serious with the training and put in their best to ensure they graduate, start their own businesses and employ others in near future.
The Suhum Branch Manager of Sinapi Aba Savings and Loans, Mr Bright Adu Antwi, disclosed that the training support was part of the institution’s co-operate social responsibility toward the development of the country.
He pledged the institution’s commitment to continue creating initiatives that could help transform the lives of the people to complement government efforts toward poverty alleviation in the country.
Background
The initiative which started in 2003 and has seen over 4000 youth trained in various entrepreneurship skills through master craftsmen in selected fields who train beneficiaries for three years with relevant skills to start their own businesses.
