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24.10.2016 Opinion

High Unemployment In Ghana

By Eric Nyame
High Unemployment In Ghana
24.10.2016 LISTEN

Unemployment is the number of people in a particular country who cannot get job. Kindly permit me space in your widely read newspaper to comment on the problem of high unemployment in Ghana. This social canker which is on the ascendency is gradually demeaning the status of Ghana. To crack this bad nut, I would like to suggest some effective ways of addressing this problem with the hope that my suggestions would not be dismissed with a wave of the hand.

Cutting off IMF conditionality’s so that the ban on employment will be lifted. Since 2011 Teachers and Nurses have not been posted due to the IMF conditionality’s. According to article 24 of the constitution "Every person has the right to work under satisfactory, safe and healthy conditions and shall receive equal pay for equal work without distinction of any kind". Therefore the government must ensure that Teachers and Nurses are posted to their various sectors. Per my investigation there are a lot of vacancies in the teaching field which need to be filled with teachers, if we truly mean that "Education is the key to success".

Cottage Industries must be set up in areas, particularly the rural areas since the already existing problem of overcrowding in the urban areas must not be compounded. With these industries, those who are highly skilled in activities such as weaving and sewing will fall satisfactory on their feet.

Agriculture, the backbone of most economies, has recently been given very little attention by the government of Ghana. The government showing interest in agriculture will mean much resources such as land, capital, farm implements and machines, will be available for the agricultural sector. This step, when taken by the government, will attract a lot of people especially the youth into the sector. The agricultural sector of every nation when improved will not only aid survival, but also consume the high number of unemployed citizens of the nation.

The government must ensure that the local goods of each country are highly patronized by the citizens. Thus, patronizing made-in-Ghana goods. This is because the nation will produce most of its food products. There will be more factories to process these raw materials into finished goods such as kalyppo, canned tomatoes, chocolate, this way etc. Many people will get job opportunities in the factories. Importation of food items will no longer be necessary.

Scholarships must be granted to students who perform wonderfully in class, but are struggling financially in life and not to MP's and Ministers. These students when fallen on their feet, study hard to come to the fore. The literacy level of the nation is improved. Employment becomes easy and more available to these students because of the assurance that, square pegs will not fit into round holes. The vehicle to the progress of Ghana is therefore accelerated.

Formal education these days must be skill-oriented rather than theoretically-based. Knowledge is power. With this power in their hands, it would be more than easy for them to make the mark. By being mostly skill-oriented, the demand for white-collar jobs will be at its barest minimum.

As union is strength, so I believe should government put my suggestions into practice, Ghana will not only developed but employment will also beckon us.

Eric Nyame.
Agona Swedru, Central.

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