Forty (40) residents of Gbefi in the Kpando Municipality of the Volta Region have been given a six-week intensive skills training in bread b...
Forty (40) residents of Gbefi in the Kpando Municipality of the Volta Region have been given a six-week intensive skills training in bread baking and pastries making, cosmetics, detergents and antiseptic preparation, beads and textile craftsmanship as well as local drinks and ice-cream preparation. The trainees, two (2) of whom are males, have also been taken through some marketing and business plan preparation skills in order to enhance their careers and image in whichever industry they find themselves.
The decision by the residents to enroll onto the programme was to give the beneficiaries some additional and diversified skills and knowledge, having been farmers and petty traders in the area since time immemorial.
The training was undertaken by the Director and Staff of the Grace Vocational Training Institute (GVTC) at Tapa Abotoase in the Oti Region with the entire cost of training the beneficiaries borne by the Independent Parliamentary Candidate (PC) for the Kpando Constituency in the 2020 general elections, Mr. Samuel Kodzosika.
The trainees were given certificates of honour for taking part in the programme. The trainees also presented a citation in honour of Mr. Kodzosika for the immense support and sponsorship given to them during their training period. The graduands also made a presentation to the Director of the Institute, Ms. Kekeli Agubretu for her sacrifices and support to the graduating class.
Speaking at the passing out ceremony, Paramount Chief of the Gbefi Traditional Area, Togbega Akom VIII described the intervention of the PC in the lives of the graduands as God-sent, adding that the role of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in the socio-economic development of the country cannot be over-emphasized.
He charged the graduating trainees to take the skills acquired seriously, noting that such a huge knowledge has the potential to expose them to foreign exchange which would also prevent the country from spending large sums of foreign exchange to import some of these items that could be locally produced here in Ghana.
Togbe Akom was particularly happy that majority of the trainees were women, adding that he was also happy that the graduating batch had two men being beneficiaries. He charged the women to use the skills and knowledge acquired to positively impact their families and society as a whole as emphasized in the famous statement of the late Ghanaian Educationist, Dr. Kwegyir Aggrey that, ‘if you educate a man, you educate an individual but if you educate a woman, you educate a nation’.
The Independent PC for the Kpando Constituency in this year’s elections, Mr. Samuel Kodzosika disclosed that his decision to support the group was aimed among other things at equipping the beneficiaries with the needed skills and knowledge so as to enable them earn a good living. He pledged his support to ensuring that the lives of the youth of the area are transformed through a lot of empowerment programmes that are in the pipeline.
Mr. Kodzisika disclosed that his vision for the Gbefi area in particular and the Kpando Constituency as a whole is a big one, emphasizing the need for unity and peace as a prerequisite for achieving the developmental goals and agenda of the entire constituency.
The Director of the Institute, Ms. Kekeli Asong Agubretu told our newsteam in an interview that between 2018 and 2019 alone, more than three hundred (300) youths have been given such skills training across a number of communities in both Oti and Volta Regions.
According to her, the major challenge facing her programme since its inception in the year 2000, has been how to raise sponsorship for the trainees, explaining that most of them come from typical rural communities where they cannot afford the subsidized training cost due to high poverty levels in those areas.
Ms. Agubretu therefore appealed to Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), philanthropists as well as public spirited individuals and organizations to partner the Institute to give such subsidized training skills to a lot more of the unemployed youth in various rural communities across the two regions and beyond.
The graduation ceremony which was the first of its kind in the area in several years, was attended by a large number of dignitaries from far and near including the chiefs, queenmothers and residents of Gbefi.
source: Akukorku Media Cunsult
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