He said, “we are ensuring skills development that meets the demands of the
Ghanaian labour market and promotes decent work.”
Mr Ofori-Atta was speaking at the launch of the training and retraining
programme component of the National Unemployment Insurance Scheme (NUIS) under
Ghana Cares “Obaatanpa” Programme in Accra.
The programme aimed at preserving and upgrading the human capital and skills of
the current cohort of workers, who lost their employment because of the
pandemic. It is intended to facilitate their re-entry into productive
employment at higher levels of performance.
The Programme will be implemented in two phases, the first phase of the
Programme will cover workers in the sectors that were mostly affected by the
pandemic, namely the Private Education Sector and the Tourism and Hospitality
Sector.
The second phase of the Training and Retraining Programme will cover other
sectors of the economy with emphasis on vocational and technical training.
The training and re-training programme is focused on skills upgrading, work
ethics, productivity, and attitudinal change.
The Minister said the government’s resolve to invest in the people of Ghana,
particularly the youth, had been adequately matched with the implementation of
programmes that ensure strategic workforce development, including interventions
to enhance employability and improve productivity.
He said even under difficult times, when the economy was facing challenges
largely on account of global shocks and domestic developments, “we prioritise
the Programme as we believe the medium to long term benefits are enormous for
the worker output enhancement for the economy.”
Mr Ofori-Atta said an implementation Committee with membership from the
Government, Organised Labour, and Employers had been constituted to see to the
effective implementation of the Programme.
The Minister said Programme was developed through extensive consultations
between the government and key stakeholders comprising representatives from the
Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Employment & Labour Relations.
Others are Organised Labour and Ghana Employers Association and other
stakeholders such as the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Tourism, Arts and
Culture, Ghana Education Service, Ghana Tourism Authority, Council for
Technical and Vocational Education and Training, Ghana National Association of
Private Schools, Ghana National Council of Private Schools, and Ghana Tourism
Federation.
He said the government was funding the cost of the training and retraining
programme by paying the fees of workers, who enroll in the Programme.
Dr Patrick Nomo, the Chairman of NUIS and Training and Re-training Programme,
said Re-Skilling, Training and Retraining was essential to building and
sustaining competencies for the ever-changing labour market.
He said the outbreak of the COVID-19 in 2020 led to massive job losses and
under-employment globally and domestically, which necessitated the need for government
to establish a NUIS with a training and retraining component to support
workers, who involuntarily become unemployed.
He said the government, together with Social Partners, was partnering with
credible service providers to roll out the first phase of the Training and
Retraining Programme to eligible beneficiary workers in the Tourism and
Hospitality Sector and the Private Education Sector.
Dr Nomo, who is also the Chief Director of the Ministry of Finance, said they
had made great strides towards the implementation of the programme.
The team tasked to oversee the implementation of the programme has over the
past year engaged relevant stakeholders in the two sectors and relevant course
modules and all the other processes for the roll-out of the Programme have been
completed.
Mr Ignatius Baffour-Awuah, the Minister for Employment and Labour Relations,
said going forward the government would expand the programme to include more
sectors.
“I believe that if we are able to implement this programme successfully,
unemployment will be a thing of the past,” he added.
Dr Yaw Baah, the Secretary-General of the Trades Union Congress, commended the
government and the social partners for the initiative.
Source: GNA