OIC Holds 34th Annual Graduation (page 17, Dec 4)

THE Minister for Employment and Social Welfare, Mr Stephen Amoanor Kwao has said that unemployment is a canker that has plagued the country for many years.
It is in view of this f that the government was taking decisive steps to come out with a National Employment Policy to drastically address the huge unemployment issues.
The ministry, he said, had already taken steps to expand and improve community based skills development to meet demand for accelerated skills training.
In a speech read on his behalf at the 34th annual graduation ceremony of the Opportunities Industrialisation Centre (OIC) Ghana, the Minister said the phenomenon had been identified as the main cause of poverty in Ghana and the world at large.
He pointed out that highly educated Ghanaians could not find employment because of the shortage of specific occupational skills, despite the fact that they held the relevant academic qualifications.
The minister commended the OIC for its high achievements in human resource development in the country, and for being a faithful partner of the government by responding to the training needs of the youth with creativity and vision.
He assured the OIC of his ministry’s continual support and advised the students to take special care of themselves, especially in this era of HIV/AIDS and said they should not forget that the institution and their parents had invested massively in them.
The Sales Manager of Tigo, Nii Boi Adjei said as part of the company’s social responsibility initiative on education, the company would assist deserving Ghanaians to enable them have the opportunity to be in school.
He said the theme for the occasion, ”Empowering the Ghanaian Youth with the requisite empolyable skills for emerging technological era” clearly depicts the company’s common vision for the country.
He noted that the company was committed to positively enhancing the lives of all Ghanaians, especially the youth who were the real custodians of the country’s bright future.
In his annual report, the Programmes Manager of OIC, Mr K. A. Asante said the primary objective of OIC was to contribute to the human resource and economic development of the nation, through the provision of employable skills to the unskilled and unemployed youth.
He said OIC Ghana believed in building the capacity of its staff to enable them to offer their best.
As a community based Technical and Vocational Training Institution, Mr Asante said the institute had received tremendous support from churches, institutions, corporate bodies and establishments within the community.
He appealed to the government to extend the benefits of the GETFUND to OIC, and to corporate bodies to join the OIC Ghana support family to echo their corporate social responsibility through the institution.