Accra, June 18, GNA – Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) in collaboration with Don Bosco Technical Institute has organized its annual job fair to facilitate networking and matchmaking opportunities for its students.
The event was aimed at promoting skill development through Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) as well as enhancing the informal sector which offers skills and knowledge to the students.
It was held on the theme, “Youth Unemployment: Bridging the Industry-Education Skills Gap”.
Mr John Duti, Team Leader of Invest for Jobs at GIZ Ghana, said, skill training required an investment to resolve the unemployment challenges which the country was faced with.
He said the German government would support the Government of Ghana to help champion TVET education in Ghana.
Mr Duti reiterated the increase of funding for the procurement of equipment to facilitate the theory and practical programmes of the school.
According to him, the cooperation between Invest for Jobs and the Don Bosco Technical Institute provided a comprehensive advice and intensive hands-on training to empower the youth with market-oriented skills and to upscale the skills of the industry workers.
“The job fair, borne out of this cooperative, creates a platform for exchanges between industry and academia, identifying and bringing industry-related skills gaps whilst providing job opportunities for Ghana’s teeming youth,” he said.
Mr Duti indicated that a total of 454 young persons had received training in different fields, and about 33 per cent of the number have been placed in companies for attachment.
“We are pleased to support Don Bosco’s initiative with an amount of one million euros to empower Ghana’s hopeful and determined youth with employable skills,” he said.
Reverend Father Mark Eshun, Principal of the school, said Ghana was one of the fastest growing economies in Africa, however the youth lacked career opportunities due to their lack of work experience, soft and technical skills, and networks.
He said: “We have responsibility as training institutions to find out what industry needs so we can better equip our youth with skills that meet such requirements; and that is one crucial function of the Don Bosco Technical Institute.”
He said the school was linked to industry which allowed them to organize programs into training sections that provide the students basic knowledge and advance modular training group being supported by GIZ.
Madam Moreen Odoi, Executive Director, Association of Ghana and Industries and Chairperson of the program assured her outfit of commitment to provide support and opportunity for the students to enable them to learn soft and hard skills as part of their training.
She commended GIZ for their immense support to the school as well as the Government of Ghana for making TVET free, adding that her outfit was ready to provide the needed support to the school.
Madam Odoi, therefore, advised the students to learn hard and shun activities that had the tendency to affect their studies.
Don Bosco Technical Institute is a non- profit-making Christian Institution, established to provide employment-linked, market-oriented, vocational training of a short duration to the economically and socially marginalized youth.
The school addresses the issues of unemployment and lack of skilled manpower with a market-based approach that is sensitive to the socio-economic needs of marginalized youth.
GNA