Mr Mustapha Omar Copson, the Bono Regional Director of the Youth Employment Agency (YEA) at the weekend urged university students to leverage on the government’s one million Coder’s Programme to fetch themselves online jobs.
Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, the Minister of Finance announced that the government has allocated GHC100 million to the National Coder’s Program, when he presented the 2025 budget statement to parliament in March.
Mr Copson, gave the advice when addressing the annual freshers summit (Akwaaba) of the University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR) branch of the Tertiary Education Institution Network (TEIN) of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in Sunyani.
The summit, on the theme, “Empowering the next generation: strengthening leadership and activism for a brighter future” sought to welcome and induct the ‘level 100’ students who were loyal members of the NDC into the Network.
Mr Copson, also Deputy Bono Regional Youth Organiser of the NDC indicated that the implementation of the Coder’s Program sought to train young people and students in web design, web hosting, and other such activities along the ICT value chain.
“So, as you are in school now, you can still leverage on that, browse through for online opportunities and to get decent jobs for yourselves,” he stated.
Mr Copson told the network that President John Dramani Mahama had prioritised job creation and youth employment, saying the National Apprenticeship Programme, which had received GHC300 million seed money reflected the commitment of the government to create more job opportunities for the youth.
He emphasised that the NDC and President Mahama was aware about the integral role the TEIN and other NDC youth wings played in the 2024 electoral victory of the party, saying “the NDC can’t leave the young people behind”.
“In fact, the role we played in the General Election had been rewarded because key elements of the 2025 budget are youth-centered policies that create life changing opportunities for all of us”, Mr Copson stated.
Describing the Coder’s programme as a home-grown policy, he said, “what we have to do is to identify what we can do, think outside the box, and come out with realistic business ideas”.
“Funding is not a problem under President Mahama’s administration and so let leverage on the government job creation interventions and opportunities and come out with real business ideas to access the funds and become real time entrepreneurs,” Mr Copson advised.
He said the YEA Directorate in the region was ever ready, prepared and opened to receive business ideas from the youth that could be translated into jobs.
Source: myghanadaily
