Sunyani, B/A, Jan. 31, GNA - While some Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies are experiencing shortage of teaching staff in basic institutions within their communities, lack of teaching vacancies is a major problem confronting the Sunyani Municipality under the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP).

This has led most of the youth in the municipality who registered for employment for teaching under the programme to focus their attention on the health sector.

Mr. Alfred Ofori Annye, Municipal coordinator of NYEP told the Ghana News Agency in an interview that, more than 400 youth who had registered for teaching appointments could not have the chance in the various basic schools in the municipality. He stated that when the names of registered youth under the teaching sector were submitted to the municipal directorate of education in Sunyani to be considered for engagement, there were no vacancies for them.

"As a result most of the youth who registered for teaching have been flocking to the office of the programme to be recruited into the health sector", the co-ordinator added. Mr. Annye disclosed that 1,500 youth in the municipality had been registered under the programme, out of which 160 had been employed for waste management, 150 for health and 110 for community protection. He said 50 youth had so far been engaged in agriculture under bee-keeping, grass cutter and snail rearing as well as poultry and livestock.

The municipal coordinator explained that NYEP was devoid of partisan politics and urged the youth who had not registered to do so to help lessen the unemployment problem.

Mr. Annye explained that since the youth formed the chunk of the country's population the government was determined to help alleviate their plight through job creation and expressed the optimism that the NYEP would engage all sectors of the economy by 2008.