NGO SPONSORS 25 YOUTH TO ACQUIRE SKILLS (PAGE 23)

TWENTY-FIVE apprentices sponsored by Youth Alive, a non-governmental organisation, have passed out at a ceremony held in Wa in the Upper West Region.
The apprentices, who undertook training in dressmaking, hairdressing, weaving, carpentry, among others, were presented with working tools worth GH¢13,789.
Speaking at the ceremony, the Programme Manager of Youth Alive, Mr Conrad Balig, announced that 270 children were being supported in the Wa municipality.
“Of this number, 83 are undergoing various vocational skills training while 187 have been enrolled in basic, junior and senior high schools”, he added.
Mr Balig said through the intervention of Youth Alive, 74 youth working on the streets had been reintegrated into their families and communities, adding that currently seven of such people were in the universities with two each in teacher training colleges and the Wa Polytechnic .
He was happy that the graduates committed and dedicated themselves to the training, and urged them to put the skills acquired into practice.
“We have confidence in these graduates and its our belief that they will not betray our trust. In other words, they will not sell the tools and equipment and eventually migrate to southern Ghana in search of non-existing jobs”, he stated.
Mr Balig appealed to the district assemblies in the region to continue to support the NGO so that more children could benefit from the activities of the centre.
In a keynote address, the Upper West Regional Minister, Mr Mahmud Khalid, urged parents to send their children to school and support them to acquire both formal and vocational education.
He observed that the lack of parental guidance and support to children had led to many brilliant children abandoning their education and migrating to the southern part of the country.
Mr Khalid urged the children to report parents who treated them inhumanely to the department for the necessary action.
He also advised the graduates to be good ambassadors of Youth Alive in their various endeavours.