The Minister of Finance, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, has stated that the government would continue to adopt programmes aimed at improving employees' skills and welfare.
"We are ensuring that skills development fits the demands of the Ghanaian labour market and encourages decent jobs," he stated.
Mr Ofori-Atta was addressing in Accra at the introduction of the National Unemployment Insurance Scheme's (NUIS) training and retraining programme, which is part of Ghana Cares' "Obaatanpa" initiative.
The initiative attempted to preserve and improve the human capital and skills of the present workforce, which had lost their jobs due to the epidemic. Its goal is to make it easier for them to return to productive work at better levels of performance.
The programme will be implemented in two parts, with the first covering workers in the sectors most hit by the epidemic, such as private education and tourism and hospitality.
The second phase of the Training and Retraining Programme will focus on vocational and technical training in various sectors of the economy.
Skills upgrading, work ethics, productivity, and attitude transformation are all part of the training and retraining programme.
The Minister stated that the government's determination to invest in Ghana's people, especially the youth, had been sufficiently matched with the execution of programmes that assure strategic workforce development, including interventions to promote employability and productivity.
"We prioritise the Programme because we believe the medium to long term advantages are significant for worker production augmentation for the economy," he added, even in tough times when the economy was facing problems mostly due to global shocks and internal changes.
Mr Ofori-Atta stated that an implementation committee comprised of representatives from the government, organised labour, and employers had been formed to oversee the Program's execution.
According to the Minister, the programme was designed after extensive talks between the government and key stakeholders, including officials from the Ministries of Finance and Employment and Labor Relations.
Others include the Ghana Employers Association and other stakeholders such as the Ministry of Education. Ghana Tourism Authority, Ghana National Association of Private Schools, Ghana National Council of Private Schools, and Ghana Tourism Federation are all members of the Ghana Tourism Federation.
He claimed that the government covered the expense of the training and retraining programme by paying the fees of workers who enrolled in it.
According to Dr. Patrick Nomo, Chairman of NUIS and the Training and Re-training Program, re-skilling, training, and retraining are critical to developing and maintaining competences for the ever-changing labour market.
He said that the breakout of COVID-19 in 2020 resulted in significant job losses and underemployment both worldwide and locally, necessitating the establishment of a NUIS with a training and retraining component to assist employees who were jobless unwillingly.
He stated that the government, in collaboration with Social Partners, was collaborating with trustworthy service providers to roll out the first phase of the Training and Retraining Program to qualified beneficiaries in the Tourism and Hospitality Sector as well as the Private Education Sector.
Dr. Nomo, who is also the Chief Director of the Ministry of Finance, stated that they had achieved significant progress toward the program's execution.
Over the last year, the team tasked with overseeing the program's implementation has engaged important stakeholders in the two sectors, as well as appropriate course modules, and all other processes for the program's roll-out have been completed.
The Minister for Employment and Labour Relations, Mr Ignatius Baffour-Awuah, stated that the government will extend the initiative in the future.
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