As part of the exit plan, management of the Nation Builders Corps (NaBCo) is engaging lead Module Implementation Partners (MIPs) to complete its talent needs assessments and offer available vacancies to qualified and deserving trainees, Minister of State at the Office of the President, Freda Prempeh, has disclosed.
When successful, the trainees are to be offered permanent jobs at agencies such as the Ghana Revenue Authority, Ghana Education Service, Ministry of Health and the Ghana Health Service, Ministry of Communications, the Ministry of Food and Agriculture.
Ms Freda Prempeh, MP, Tano North, told Parliament in Accra, yesterday, that of the 100,000 graduates enrolled on the programme in 2018, 32,343 of the number have exited.
“NaBCo would continue to collaborate with other agencies and programmes to provide entrepreneurship support to those trainees, among the 67,657, with viable and innovative business ideas to become entrepreneurs.
“Collaboration is currently ongoing with the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme (NIEIP) and the Ghana Enterprise Agency (GEA) under the YouStart,” she said.
Ms Prempeh was responding to a question asked of her by the Member of Parliament (MP) for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa.
Mr Ablakwa wanted to know government’s policy on the status of NaBCo trainees after the expiration of their three-year engagement at the end of October, 2021, and plans for more sustainable job creation.
According to Ms Prempeh, the trainees were being prepared through the transition into sustainable employment opportunities or their chosen career pathways.
In view of this, she said government, in the 2022 Budget has consolidated its approach to employment hinged to entrepreneurship under the YouStartProgramme.
“The YouStart will enable young people to seek and be supported both technically and financially, to start and set up their enterprises.
“This consolidated approach, and the major drive towards entrepreneurship under the YouStart, will affect the business-minded ones among the 67,657 trainees currently at the exit phase of the NaBCo scheme.
“Mr Speaker, government’s current policy direction on mass entrepreneurship under the YouStart will lead to more sustainable jobs, and hence offer a solution to the unemployment problem among the youth,” she said.
The programme introduced in 2018 was a stop-gap measure to solving Ghana’s unemployment problem.
It was to provide temporary employment to unemployed graduates, improve skills and employability for transition from the programme to permanent employment, improve public service delivery and improve on government revenue mobilisation
The 36-month programme has three phases – six-month probation, 24-month work placement and six months exit preparation.
The scheme currently operates through seven modules: Educate Ghana, Heal Ghana, Feed Ghana, Revenue Ghana, Digitise Ghana, Civic Ghana and Enterprise Ghana.
