135 Apprentices graduated from Sinapi Aba Youth Apprenticeship Program at Mampong
One hundred and thirty-five apprentices were awarded with NVTI National Proficiency level 1 Certificates after successfully completing a three-year apprenticeship program dubbed the "Youth Apprenticeship Program" at the grand graduation ceremony held for them in Mampong on November 4, 2022.
Speaking at the ceremony, Thomas Appiah Kubi, the Municipal Chief Executive of Mampong, commended Sinapi Aba for bringing this initiative to help youth develop career skills in their township. He advised the graduates not to waste their skills acquired but rather to take what they have learned from their trade masters seriously and put them into use in their line of businesses to enable them become successful entrepreneurs.
Magaret Owusu Asare, the project coordinator, in her key note address emphasized the need for the country to develop the apprenticeship program sector to reduce the unemployment rate in the country. The Youth Apprenticeship Program is an initiative jointly run by the Sinapi Aba Trust and Opportunity International Deutschland with the aim of touching lives of youth by providing employable skills and income-generating opportunities to transform their lives.
The beneficiaries selected enjoy an all-expenses-paid apprenticeship program for a period of three years. Free learning materials and financial assistance are provided to enable them to successfully go through the 3-year intensive vacation training of their choice, ranging from dressmaking, hairdressing, catering, welding, metal fabrication, auto mechanics, carpentry, masonry, and tile laying, among others.
The Youth Apprenticeship Program, since it was started 19 years ago, has indeed brought hope for the future in the lives of vulnerable and disadvantaged youth. More than 4000 Ghanaian youth have benefited from this program since its inception providing them entrepreneurial skills and shaping their future.