The National Youth Authority (NYA) is set to come up with streamlined initiatives and interventions to prepare JHS and SHS graduates ahead of their new academic levels.

With its initiative dubbed “The Exit Strategy,” the Authority hopes to embark on a nationwide campaign to sensitize these graduates to make thoughtful and right choices as they climb the ladder of academia.

Speaking on Campus Exclusive on Tuesday, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the National Youth Authority, Mr. Owusu Ansah, said they want to ensure that all JHS and SHS graduands have a clear sense of direction before their next level of education.

“We have started a program at the district level where our district officers will be engaging the JHS graduates to help them in terms of courses they want to pursue; We are doing this to make sure before they enter their next level of education, they will have a clear sense of direction,” he said.

He stressed that “we need to now begin to concertize our young people to be able to see, that even if they take the option of TVET, it doesn’t mean truncating their academic career.”

According to him, “Only a few have the sense of pursuing other options in TVET, but the point is that the TVET option is very viable, it gives you vocation, and it gives you easy access to livelihood after completion.”

Mr. Owusu Ansah indicated that NYA will soon roll out a program dubbed “Step Program” that will target about 10,000 youth to equip them with skills in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET).

He added that the program will also empower them with skills in areas such as governance and leadership.

“We are going to roll out the STEP program that will basically target those who have skills but are still unemployed; We are targeting 10,000 youth in the next few days, then we equip them and give them some refresher programs together with some soft skills in the area of leadership, governance so that these people can now begin to think about building a business out of their vocation,” he highlighted.

He scored that since the COVID-19 is not off the hook yet, it dawns on the National Youth Authority to effectively engage students while they stay home, so they can lay a strong foundation against the resumption of academic in January 2021.