By Maxwell Awumah
Ho, Nov 10, GNA – The Head of State Awards Scheme on Thursday honoured some 253 young people from various formal and non-formal educational institutions in the Volta region.
The Head of State Awards Scheme is a state-owned initiative established to undertake youth development programme, empowering young people aged 14-24 to explore their full potential and find their true purpose, passion and place in the world, regardless of their location or circumstance.
The awardees were given bronze and silver awards after they had met the requirements of the Scheme and had gone through different levels of training in the past six to twelve months under their various masters.
The beneficiaries were trained in the areas of Information Technology, Fashion and Designs, Visual Arts, Skills Development and Voluntary works.
Schools that benefited from the awards are, Evangelical Presbyterian Church (E.P.C) Mawuko Girls High School, Ho, OLA Girls SHS, Mawuli Secondary, Taviefe SHS, Tanyigbe SHS, Social Welfare Technical and Vocational School, Government Secretariat School, Holy Spirit College of Education and some other private non-formal training schools, all within the Ho Municipality.
Dr. Archibald Yao Letsa, the Volta Regional Minister, who delivered the keynote address at the ceremony held at the forecourt of the Volta Regional Coordinating Council, said young people were critical in the development of the country hence the need to support them.
He said today’s young people had a wealth of opportunities at their disposal, the potential to break barriers and the ability to come up with innovations to change their communities for the better.
“The role young people play in the growth of every economy cannot be underrated. It is therefore imperative for us to support them the best way we can,” he said.
The Minister said that “The works exhibited beneficiaries clearly showed how creative and entrepreneurial young ones are”.
Dr Letsa noted that lots of young people were setting up their own businesses thereby creating jobs for themselves and others saying, “The youth are really the game changers of this nation.”
Mrs Korkor Ayitia, a representative of the Head of State Awards Scheme, applauded the awardees and the regional coordinators of the initiative for their commitment towards the exercise.
She said the Scheme sought to achieve “Young people to be able to seamlessly navigate the labour market, they need relevant skills to perform specific tasks, communicate effectively, think critically and find creative and innovative ways of solving real life problems”.
Living in a global village, Mrs Korkor said “Going Digital Project” was launched this year, to “Enhancing youth digital skills as a driver of youth entrepreneurship through the Award Scheme, it is our hope that this will motivate and further give participants and leaders to explore this opportunity to improve on their IT skills and knowledge.”
The Award Scheme is a fully inclusive programme and has no social, political, or religious affiliations.
The zealous awardees told the Ghana News Agency to take full advantage of the opportunity to reach out to their peers and the world at large.
Volta Regional chapter of the Award Scheme was done in a partnership with the Regional Directorate of the Ghana Education Service, National Youth Authority, Volta Regional Coordinating Council and the Regional Secretariat of the Head of State Awards Scheme.
GNA