By Bernice Bessey: bbessey@yahoo.com
Ghana’s success story in running a youth programme, the National Service Scheme (NSS), for 49 years has attracted many Africa countries, including Namibia, to learn from the country’s experience of managing and preparing graduands for the job market.
The four-member Namibia delegation, led by Charles Kabajani, Board Member, Namibia National Youth Service, in company with their Ghanaian counterparts paid a visit to the Ministry of Education, the overseer of the NSS.
The delegation, which would be spending five days in the country to adopt best practices into enhancing their seven years National Youth Service, said it was currently having challenges with how to do posting, whether the service should be made compulsory or voluntary, and whether it should stand on its own as an institution, or under a different agency, and where suitably it should be situated.
Namibia, which is the second time sending a delegation into the country to copy from Ghana’s experience, indicated that it had always looked up to Ghana since independence to build its country.
Mr. Kabajani stated that the Namibia National Service’s preparedness to learn from Ghana was to put in place the necessary measures to gear the youth towards the future.
“Youth unemployment is, no doubt, skyrocketing. The youth are seen peaceful and stable this day, but as they are so energetic, powerful, innovative, exuberance and fragile, they can also pose surprises with the absence of no jobs,” he said.
Other areas to be studied by the Namibia National Service are the budgeting and selection processes.
The Deputy Minister of Education responsible for Tertiary, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, received the delegation and assured it of the country’s commitment to making the Namibia National Service a successful one.
He said, over the years, a lot had been invested in the youth programme, whereby parents are encouraged to allow their wards to take part in the service to the nation, before they are allowed to pursue a job of their choice.
He noted that the NSS, over the years, had encouraged youth patriotism and also served as a transition between school and the job market, adding: “We want inculcate into our youth the spirit of commitment, thus enabling them to give back to society, which, through their taxes, sponsored them in their education.”
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, together with his directors, stated that the NSS was among institutions in the country that had stood the test of time, though it still had some challenges to address, yet it was worthy of emulation by the Namibia Youth Service.