200 Hawkers to undergo skills training

Over 200 hawkers in the Accra metropolis have been registered by the Association of Ghana Artisans (ASSGA) under a vocational training programme to complement the government’s effort at building a quality human resource base for the country.
Dubbed "Creating Training Opportunities for Street Children", the programme is aimed at reducing hawking on the streets of major cities and towns. It is supported by Selfless International, a non-governmental organisation (NGO).
The National Chairman of ASSGA, Mr Immanuel Bidedzi, told the Daily Graphic in Accra that the first phase of the ongoing programme covered street hawkers drawn from areas where, in recent times, hawkers had been involved in avoidable accidents while trying to fend for themselves on the streets.
He said the areas included the Kasoa Barrier, the Mallam Junction, the Kaneshie traffic light and the Achimota Overpass, noting that the programme would be extended to all the regions.
The participants will undergo training in auto mechanics, welding, tailoring, hairdressing, tie and dye making, spraying and carpentry.
According to Mr Bidedzi, most of the participants had completed junior high school and could contribute a lot to the growth of the country's development agenda when they were adequately equipped with intensive skills and vocations of their choice.
He said as a result of the vulnerability of the participants, whose ages range between 12 and 25, the trainers had also been counselled on how to treat them well to ensure that they underwent successful training.
"Most of them are in their formative years, hence the need to equip them with tangible vocations to meet the growing needs of the country's fast developing economy,” he said, and appealed to the Christian and Muslim communities, philanthropists and all benevolent persons to go to their aid.
The Southern Zonal Co-ordinator of the National Vocational Training Institute (NVTI), Mr Anyetei Sowah, said the initiative was in the right direction, as it was in conformity with the government’s educational reform programme.
He said he believed that if the country was to develop to an appreciable level, the private sector and NGOs needed to support the government to place more emphasis on human resource development.
The President of Selfless International, Madam Juliet Ayim, said the organisation intended to empower the participants with training to enable them to take control of their lives and promised that female participants who had nowhere to stay would be given hostels to lodge in while they underwent the training.
She said it was better to equip them with training for them to fend for themselves than to leave them to hawk on the streets, indulge in armed robbery and petty stealing which had serious consequences.
Madam Ayim appealed to the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs and all stakeholders to help the NGO to promote its cause.