5000 Graduates undergo apprenticeship traning, Wednesday, April, 11, 2012. pg 19

­About 5,000 junior high school (JHS) graduates who could not proceed to senior high school are undergoing apprenticeship under the National Apprenticeship Programme.

An additional 8,000 beneficiaries are expected to receive assistance this year from the programme, which is aimed at reducing youth unemployment in the country.

Beneficiaries of the initiative are receiving training in mechanics, garment-making, hairdressing and electronics under the supervision of 1,200 master craftsmen at 78 centres across the country.

 The Co-ordinator of the Council for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (COTVET), Mr K.A. Amaniampong, made this known at the launch of a proficiency training programme for mechanics in the automobile industry.

The proficiency training, the brainchild of Cart Alternative Development Foundation (CADEF), a non-governmental organisation, is to help upgrade the skills and knowledge base of the master craftsmen.

The first training, which will benefit more than 100 mechanics, will start in the Greater Accra Region and be replicated in other parts of the country.

In recent years, the country has seen the influx of modern automobiles from all over the world and this has brought immense pressure on the car maintenance and service industry.

But experts say there is a skills and knowledge deficit in mechanics who handle such cars, sometimes resulting in accidents that are preventable.

The Executive Director of the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC), Mr Noble Appiah, who launched the project, pledged the commission’s support to ensure that the project achieved its objective.

Speaking at the ceremony,  the Deputy Greater Accra Regional Minister, Mr Isaac Vanderpuiye,
 commended the initiative and observed that “in today’s world knowledge-based industries are powering the economic and social development of nations. It is a world where the export of technology and skilled labour has overtaken natural resources, making the knowledge base of a country even more important than its natural resources”.

Most mechanic shops in the country operate in the open, most of the time observing no safety practices. Their environment tends not to be conducive, as it is without sitting places, washrooms, security walls and comfort for customers.

To curb the trend, the Director of the NVTI, Mr Stephen Bismark Amponsah, in a speech read on his behalf, said the training programme would be comprehensive and expose the beneficiaries to modern workshop management that would meet the needs of their clients.

The Executive Director of CADEF, Mr Richard Sumah, for his part, said many road accidents that could be avoided became inevitable as a result of improper services, resulting in the nation losing money and lives.