Tackling unemployment: 1 Million Youth Will Be Trained to Work in ICT —Bawumia

Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, Vice President and presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has stated that his presidency will as a matter of priority, train and equip one million Ghanaian youth with ICT skills to enable them to work in the sector for companies both home and abroad.

In his statement to the theming supporters, who participated in the “Offie Walk” on Saturday, 3 August 2024, as part of his campaign tour of the Eastern Region, Dr Bawumia vowed to tackle unemployment in Ghana by training approximately one million youth in digital skills.

Dr Bawumia highlighted that this initiative will not only bridge the skills gap but also empower Ghanaian youth to compete effectively in the global digital economy, thereby tackling the issue of unemployment among the youth of the country.

“I want the youth to be employed, jobs will be my main focus. I’ll train about one million youth in digital skills, that’s where the job opportunities are,” Dr Mahamudu Bawumia said.

“Even if you haven’t been to the university, as long as you can read and write, we’ll train you in digital skills so that you can work in other countries, while in Ghana. You’ll be in Ghana but will be working in America, Canada, Japan, UK,” Dr Bawumia added.

*ICT Lab for School of the Blind*
As part of what is the sixth region of the NPP presidential candidate’s constituency-focused nationwide campaign tour, Dr Bawumia commissioned an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) laboratory for the Akropong School for the Blind and handed over 104 laptops to Special Needs Teachers.

In his address during the commissioning, Dr Bawumia pointed out that “as a country, [there is the need] to put issues of children with special needs on the development agenda and take steps to achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Four which is to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.”

“Today, the actions we are taking here move us closer to our goal of ensuring inclusive education and access to all children regardless of ability. It is fitting that we launch this innovative ICT Lab and provide equipment to teachers at this school where some 79 years ago this August, the school started.

“This school has been a pioneer in providing education for the blind and has been a West African giant in educating students with disabilities and I intend to also be the catalyst and champion for a 21st century revolution in special education. My mission is to ensure that Special Education Needs (SEN) are prioritized as a way to ease the burden on parents and guardians and improve access to school,” Dr Bawumia remarked.

“I have proposed and will champion the recruitment and training of at least 1,000 more special education teachers, training teachers in language and speech therapy as well as occupational and behavioral therapy. I believe in ensuring that more high schools are integrated to provide more access to students with special needs, the NPP presidential candidate further remarked.