The National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI) in the Birim Central Municipality of the Eastern region as part of measures to provide skills training to improve the life of the some unemployed youth has trained over 50 youth in Pastries Production and Leatherworks.

The initiative was implemented by NBSSI with support from the Rural Enterprise and the Government of Ghana dubbed: “Apprentice to Entrepreneur” has so far trained over 200 youth with many of them being trained to improve their lives and that of their dependents.

Speaking at the passing-out ceremony at separate training grounds at Aboabo and Oda Nkwanta in the Birim Central Municipality, the head of the Business Advisory Centre, Mr Richard Mongson said the Programme is an apprenticeship initiative of NBSSI aimed at e+quipping unemployed youth with employable skills in Bakery and Leather works.

He added that, the initiative would equip the teeming unemployed youth with entrepreneurial and employable skills to enable them take advantage of employment opportunities with existing entrepreneurs, or set up businesses to create employment for others.

According to him, his outfit was committed to training more youth in the next two years under the programme.

The Birim Central Municipality which has been described by many as the commercial center of the Eastern region due to its former glory of timber production has become the destination of many who move from other parts of the Eastern region, Central and Ashanti regions as well as other parts of the country for a better life.

The phenomenon has increase the level of youth unemployment in the Municipality with many of them living on the streets and engaging in all kinds of activities to make a living including illegal mining.

It is for this reason that the NBSSI and its partners – the Birim Central Municipal Assembly, the Rural Enterprise Progamme are implementing the training programme to make the many young people employed.

The ‘Apprentice to Entrepreneur’ project introduced by government to help eradicate youth unemployment has given the youth skills like vehicle spraying, carpentry, mechanical works, electrical works, electronics, fashion designing, beads making, hair dressing, graphic designing, leather works, among others.

The Course Representatives of the two vocation; leader works and pastries production, Victoria Baidoo and Gladys Amaniwaa expressed appreciation to the Government of Ghana through the NBSSI and the Rural Enterprises Programme for the intervention and appealed to them for more support by providing start up kits to participants after training.

They, however, promised to use the knowledge acquired in the small scale business training to gradually grow their businesses.