Be conscious of your attitude to work - Gaduates advised

Graduates in Ghana have been advised to be conscious of their attitude towards work and be agents of change in the real world to determine how far they can go in life.

“The purpose of education whether formal or informal is to empower an individual to help improve his or her immediate environment and beyond.”

Mr Nathan Baidoo, Soft Skills Trainer and Mentor said this at the 1st graduation ceremony organised by Opportunity for Transformation in Africa (YOTA) through Pathways for Sustainable Employment for Women and Youth project (Paseway) funded by the German Corporation, BMZ, and in collaboration with Plan International and National Vocational and Technical Institute (NVTI).

He said skills alone could not make one successful but attitude, and urged the graduands to work on their attitude, be principled and humble in all their endeavours to make life simple and easier.

Mr Baidoo noted that such qualities were indispensable to a brighter and prosperous working environment in the future.

Madam Felicia Maku Quaye, Chief Executive Officer of Geofel Enterprise and Academic Trainer said, “it takes an individual who is diligent in his or her work to appear in the presence of great personalities”.

She said the graduands having good attitudes and being diligent would give them opportunities in the working world even if there were fewer opportunities in the job market.

Madam Maku Quaye urged them to strive and uphold their reputation in the working field to make the training given to them profitable.

Madam Mawusi Nudekor Awity, Director General for TVET and formal NVTI Executive Director, in a speech read on her behalf by Mr John Konika Tino, Head of Informal Apprenticeship NVTI, said it was heartwarming to see people given an opportunity to be skilled in making a living for themselves and most importantly contribute to national development.

She said NVTI's goal was to bring quality training and skill development to young people and believed with initiatives and projects such as this was a step in the right direction.

Madam Awity charged all stakeholders to help support the youth who were still lingering on the streets to enable them to have hope and a future and urged the graduates to work harder as they step into the business world.

Mr Eric Saforo, Project Coordinator and Head of Skills and Innovation YOTA, said the purpose for the project was to provide formal employment for young people in the construction and hospitality sectors in which participants in Ashanti and Northern regions would undergo hospitality training while Greater Accra participants undergo Construction.

He said the goal of the project was to train 4,050 young people between the ages of 15-35, adding that, there were four categories of participants they were working with which were the unskilled, semi-skilled, skilled, and micro-enterprise.

Mr Saforo said the project would last until the end of 2023 and entreated young girls who wanted to venture into construction to apply.

Mr Daniel Koffie and Mr John Bosco, graduands expressed their gratitude to the organisers for transforming lives.

A total number of 229 participants graduated of which 100 were from the skilled and 129 from the semi-skilled category in construction, event decoration, plumbing, electrician, and painting and they were from 12 districts in the Greater Accra region.