GAEC orients second batch of young women in TVET Programme

A day’s orientation organized by the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC) for the second batch of 83 young women in the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programme took place in Accra.

The TVET program, dubbed the Young African Works (YAW) strategy initiative, is a two-month skills development in ICT with technical support from the GAEC for the CAMFED.

Addressing the learners, the Director-General of GAEC, Prof. Samuel Boakye Dampare, said the TVET programs hold the key to solving the country's unemployment challenges, and that skill acquisition by the youth from the TVET programmes such as the YAW strategy initiative would help bridge the gap of unemployment.

He, therefore, urged the learners to concentrate and focus on the objective of being empowered through the training program so as to create jobs for themselves and make meaningful contributions to the Ghanaian society.

“We always say that when you educate a woman, you educate the entire nation. It is true. It implies that you should take everything you learn seriously to have an impact and make the needed contribution to society,” he noted.

“It also serves as a means of bridging the gender gap in the TVET sector and other sectors of the economy, where the issue of men always leading while women are left behind will be broken, and we will eventually have equality and equity between men and women,” he added.

The Director-General used the occasion to promote the benefits of peaceful nuclear applications in agriculture, the environment, health, and water resources, among other areas.

“We use nuclear techniques for peaceful applications to impact society for socio-economic development. So, while you're here, take a tour of our facilities and become GAEC ambassadors, telling the story of nuclear applications to humanity,” he stated.

Prof. Dampare also encouraged the learners to make friends and form social networks among themselves in order to support one another after the training program.

“Three or four of you can come together to establish a business after the training program. It is all about entrepreneurship. You may have your academic credentials, but you will need additional skills to position yourself appropriately in today's competitive world,” he added.

“Those of us in the public sector or government work will retire after 60 years, but the skill you are about to learn will last forever. It does not come with retirement, and you can still use these skill sets to make a living for yourself and your family after 60 years. And by this, Ghana wins,” Prof. Dampare explained.

The Deputy Director of the Commercialization and Communication Directorate (CCD) and the project coordinator for the training program at GAEC, Ms. Sheila Frimpong, charged the young women to take up the challenge, in addition to the women’s role in society, to venture into entrepreneurship and male-dominated sectors of the economy in order to make a living and care for their children.

“The main objective of the collaboration between GAEC and CAMFED is to train and empower women to become entrepreneurs and create jobs in order to earn an income to support their families because we believe that what men can do, women can do better,” she stated.

Ms. Frimpong admonished the learners to be on their best behavior and to cooperate with the facilitators so that they could be taught the necessary skills.

The orientation included presentations on academic and housekeeping rules and regulations, as well as a facility tour of the GAEC's photo studio, electronic laboratory, and other laboratories. Learners will receive training in entrepreneurship, photography, computer programming, graphic design, and web development.

SIGNED

ANTHONY NANA BOATENG
DIRECTOR COMMERCIALIZATION AND
COMMUNICATION DIRECTORATE