The University of Ghana 2023-2024 Student Representative Council (SRC) in collaboration with Global Entrepreneurship Network-Ghana (GEN-Ghana) will host the cohort 2 of, UG-SRC Skill-UP for Jobs Bootcamp from July – August 2024.
The project is an experiential training and exposure programme that has been designed to train, inspire, and equip 1000 students per cohort with job creation skills.
In a statement issued in Accra Mr Frank Tsikata, SRC President said it was intended to be a weekend training programme over a one-month duration comprising in-person practical skills and virtual soft skills sessions that would focus on sequential employability skills in selected disciplines.
It said the participants were coached to apply and showcase the acquired skill in micro-projects at the end of the training in the form of a prototype on proof of concepts.
It said experts from the industry had been poached to mentor the participants on their micro projects.
The boot camp training programme will climax with a Ski
lls for Job Conference and Exhibition, where students will have the opportunity to ask questions from industry experts on the skills needed for current and emerging jobs of the future.
The statement said this was expected to motivate students to appreciate skills training first hand.
The project was to bridge the entrepreneurial skills gap of students, respond to the changing employment situation by encouraging initiative, create an enterprise culture and stimulate entrepreneurial activity, increase the rate at which students participate in experiential learning and provide insights and connections for students to be part of mentoring networks.
It said the programme would feature practical masterclass Skills training, skills for Jobs Summit and Expo event and affirmative action for gender and persons with special needs has been mainstreamed.
The statement said four key practical skills training clusters which advance the targets of the UN Agenda 2030 (SDGs) had been selected, including Creative Arts, Food
– and Agri-Business, Digital and Tech Skills and Micro Manufacturing.
It said young people continued to be the hardest hit by the job crisis and there were multiple and complex causes behind youth unemployability.
‘Young people often have little or no labour market experience, and frequently lack relevant skills,’ it added.
The challenge of quality and relevance of the skill acquired in formal education could be harnessed by the UG-SRC through the Skill-UP for Jobs Bootcamp as an added specialised experiential learning during the students life on the UG campus.
Mr Tsikata said of the two routes for young people to enter employment, the labour-market training was being adopted due to its mass accessibility and cost-effectiveness than work experience programmes at workplaces.
‘GEN-Ghana is delighted to be working with UG SRC 2023-24 leadership to implement this project at the University of Ghana. We call on corporate organisations, development agencies, public sector institutions and the UG community to su
pport this project,’ Mr Stephen Gyasi-Kwaw, Country Founder/ MD (GEN-Ghana) said.
Source: Ghana News Agency