Hohoe, May 31, GNA- A total of 506 youth out of 1,383 registered applicants have been engaged under the various modules of the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP) in the Hohoe District. Mr. John Peter Amewu, Hohoe District Chief Executive, who disclosed this at the Assembly's first general meeting on Tuesday, said five out of the seven modules in the district were operational with two more yet to be activated. rolled out after setting it in motion.

He named the modules as Community Teaching Assistants, Health Extension Assistants, Community Protection, Waste and Sanitation Management, Youth In Agribusiness, Youth In Information Communication Technology (ICT) and Youth In Trades and Vocation (YITV).

Mr. Amewu said the ICT and YITV modules, which had registered 22 and 74 youth respectively were being fine-tuned for a take-off and added that the NYEP when fully operationalized would drastically reduce the unemployment rates in the district and country at large.

In a related development, Mr. Joseph Z. Amenowode, Member of Parliament for Hohoe North (MP), in an interview with the GNA, expressed concern about the academic qualification of some of the youth under the Programme, which according to him should not be compromised under any circumstance or for any political consideration. He said even though the NYEP was crucial to the Government and had come at the most opportune time, benchmarks and entry requirements should rigidly be adhered to in order not to lower standards.Mr. Amenowode, also member of a Parliamentary Oversight Committee on NYEP, said the academic requirement for applicants under the Community Teaching Assistants (CTA) for instance, was at least three passes at the Senior Secondary School level for persons between 18 years and 35 years. He however, said it was awful to notice in rounds in his Constituency that some youths under the CTA module did not possess "birth certificates, express themselves in simple English language or a pass at the SSS level".

The MP who is withholding names and figures for now asked "God to help Ghana, if the CTA's would be engaged to teach the children at kindergartens", which he described as a delicate area in character moulding and academic progression.

Mr. Amenowode said such children, were thought by specialized teachers in some areas because that formed the basis of what one would became in the future.

He slammed the continued sidelining of Members of Parliament in the district during tender board meetings towards the award of contracts. The MP said though he did not doubt the credibility of the bidding process and the personnel involved, he was mandated to be present and be part of the process.

Mr. Amenowode urged the youth who were still pessimistic about the NYEP to join their colleagues to make their live more meaningful.