The Chairman of the UK and Ireland Chapter of the National Democratic Congress, Horace Nii Ayi Ankrah, reiterated President Mahama’s observation that for a strong and growing economy, “Ghana must have a high level of skills and if possible zero unemployment”.

He said a Mahama led NDC is committed to achieving that by changing the face of apprenticeship “from the days of a novice learning his trade at a side of a master craftsman to high-tech specialised programmes.” “They should no longer be considered the poor relation of university study or the last resort for those not cut out for formal education.”

Mr Ankrah stressed that “the President has indicated that under his leadership he will create the atmosphere to encourage big businesses to look to apprenticeship as key to developing the expertise and skills needed to grow their workforce, improve employee loyalty, compete in the global marketplace and more importantly address unemployment.”

The UK and Ireland NDC Chairman was reacting to a comment by the CEO of Karma Group of Companies, Dr. Micheal Addo to the effect that failure of subsequent governments to continue Nkrumah’s industrialisation projects and the age of ICT has led to no government being able to address the problem of unemployment of the youth. He was speaking in an interview in Cape Coast over the week-end.

He noted that although the tone of recent campaigns towards the forth-coming general elections has been on education “the President and the NDC party will like to assure Ghanaians that they are also fully committed to zero unemployment policy.”

Mr Ankrah went on to say that financial incentives for small scale businesses, better guidance and a reduction in red tape will be some of the important steps the President and his government will ensure to making apprenticeship more attractive and credible in Ghana.

When quizzed whether any country has achieved zero unemployment, the Chairman quickly reacted by saying “ the President and the NDC are big thinkers and are aware that modern day apprenticeship schemes are meeting the demands of today’s industries to serve the future of Australia, Switzerland and Germany in particular and that is where John Mahama and the NDC are determined to take this country to redress the national skills shortage and further help the economy grow, enabling us to keep pace with some of the strong economies by addressing unemployment through high-tech apprentice schemes.”

The Chairman assured that the President is equally passionate about eradicating unemployment as he is about delivering quality education and quality healthcare to the people of Ghana.

“The President and his government will help companies develop apprenticeship strategies to see apprentice growth in a raft of sectors such as IT, sales, health and social care, logistics and creative and digital media to mention just a few,” he concluded.

He urged Ghanaians to vote massively to retain the NDC and President Mahama come December 7, to realise such positive aims for the people of Ghana.