A one-day Skills and Leadership Training Summit has been held for over 1,000 teacher trainees at the Ada College of Education in the Ada East District of the Greater Accra Region to equip them with entrepreneurial skills outside the teaching and academic profession.
The one-day seminar aimed to empower the teacher trainees in entrepreneurship, leadership, and personal development to bridge the skills gap between the classroom and the job market.
The seminar offered the trainees a platform where they could join a community of inspiring individuals dedicated to empowering the next generation and creating their own businesses after school to reduce youth unemployment.
Speaking to the media after the summit, the principal of Ada College of Education, Professor Prince Boateng, explained that conferences of this nature are very essential for students.
He noted that digitalization and entrepreneurship, which are key to the socio-economic development of the country, are now a central theme of tertiary institutions in Ghana.
Professor Prince Boateng encouraged the students to learn new skills to develop their academic careers that go beyond the lecture hall, adding that students must add value with additional skills.
He commended the government for its immense contribution to the school and appealed for more support.
The Director of Success Africa Foundation, a facilitator of the summit, Albert Prempeh Kusi in an interview said the goal of the training is to the trainees for self-employment through training and mentoring; enhancing their competencies and building their social networks.
He said the group will continue to inspire the youth, to hone their skills through mentorship programs in schools, adding that the group is committed to extending the leadership and skills development programs to universities across the country for beneficiaries to learn from the experiences of distinguished members of the society.
On her part, Shaukia Yakubu, a technical resource person for the summit, underscored that job opportunities in the country are less compared to the number of graduates every year, therefore the need for a paradigm shift.
Some of the students shared their views on the summit.