International Youth Day: Statement From Executive Director Of NSS, Hon. Mustapha Ussif

The National Service Scheme has played and continues to play a crucial role in deploying graduates from our tertiary institutions to workplaces within the public and private sectors across the country.

“In the past 6 years, the Scheme has posted about 502,494 graduates to various public and private sectors of the economy averaging 70,000 each year and over 100,000 deployed in 2019”.

National Service Scheme under this regime has strategically positioned the scheme to ensure service personnel become job creators instead of job seekers.

In recognizing the instrumental role the Scheme plays in brokering graduates employment between different sectors of the economy, the Scheme has been on a constant quest to consistently evolve itself and become responsible to the needs of graduates and employment trends of the job market and the required skills needed.

The Scheme has strategically introduced initiatives that will ensure our graduates benefit fully from H. E. President Akufo-Addo's flagship programmes such as the Planting and Rearing for Food and Jobs. This has led to the introduction of the Entrepreneurship and Innovative Module (EIM) by the Scheme where graduates are trained in the various value chain of poultry production. Subsequently, successful beneficiaries of this programme were resourced financially and provided with the needed logistics to enable them to set up their own businesses after service”.

The Scheme also facilitated personnel under this module to acquire the needed financial capital and required skills from Microfinance and Small Loans Centre(MASLOC), National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Plan (NEIP), Venture Capital and other agencies which enabled them to start their own enterprises. This has helped in creating jobs to absorb other unemployed graduates and non-graduates.

The Scheme also entered into a strategic partnership with an entity called Songhai Group to establish a training hub, where ten (10) personnel were trained and vetted by consultants on how to develop next-generation digital tools. Their mandate is to develop solutions to the many challenges we face as a country.

The Scheme believes that a strong partnership with the private sector would galvanize the ongoing efforts towards developing and empowering service personnel who can create jobs and compete globally on the talent market.

A few days ago, the Scheme signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Springboard Road Show for a Covid-19 resilient programme to train personnel in relevant workplace skills and job readiness, wellness, and safety at the workplace and health awareness in general. This is to ensure personnel bounce back fully and readily from the impact of Covid-19.

As we celebrate the International Youth Day, we as youth owe ourselves and the country a responsibility to transform our beloved motherland. It is therefore important that we take advantage of policies and programmes of President Akufo-Addo to ensure we are not left out.

Ghana is working with the effort, dedication, determination, and strong spirit of patriotism among the youth. Let us all play our respective roles in ensuring that Ghana keeps working.