A seven-member delegation from the Ugandan Parliament has called on the management of the National Service Scheme (NSS) as part of a tour to understudy Ghana’s youth development model.
The parliamentary delegation, which was led by Mr Waira Kyewalabye Majegere, is also in the country to share ideas on how to link university education to the requirements of industry in a bid to address youth unemployment.
The Executive Director of NSS, Mr Mustapha Ussif, who received the delegation, underscored the need for African countries to continue to be innovative to harness the potential of the youth.
Deployment
Mr Ussif announced that the NSS would deploy 120,000 personnel to the various user agencies this year.
He explained that even though the increase in the number of personnel would put extra pressure on the national budget, innovative measures were being explored to ensure that all eligible citizens were given the opportunity to fulfil the one-year mandatory national service.
Mr Ussif added that the NSS Act (Act 426) was also being reviewed to make it more relevant to the demands of modern times.
He further noted that the agriculture and Information and Communications Technology (ICT) modules of the scheme would be scaled up and refocused to reflect the agricultural transformation policy of the government.
The NSS boss also briefed the Ugandan team about the history of the scheme, highlighting the success stories, challenges and innovations that were being implemented to improve on the quality of service delivery.
Replication
Mr Majegere lauded Ghana for putting in place a comprehensive youth development policy through the NSS, saying his country was ready to follow the good example Ghana had set with the scheme.
“Anytime employers advertise job opportunities, they look for five years working experience from the youth but most of them fall short of this requirement. With a robust national scheme that will serve as a link between the knowledge students gain from the universities and the requirement by industry, we may be on the path to solving the unemployment challenge,” Mr Majegere stated.
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