Youth Commissioner appeals to Gov’t to pay lecturers
November 30, 2015 By Ibrahim Tarawallie
Commissioner of the National Youth Commission has appealed to the government, through the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, to consider paying lecturers at the Obasanjo Skills Acquisition and Youth Transformation College in the Western Area Rural District.
Anthony Koroma was peaking at the second graduation ceremony of the college in Newton, where three hundred students received their diplomas and certificates after completing a year’s training programme in various fields, including Media Studies, Social Work, Development Studies and Business Administration and Entrepreneurship.
He revealed that as part of its support to the commission, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is currently providing stipend to lecturers to enable them provide quality tutorial service to students, but warned that it cannot continue forever.
He noted that the graduation ceremony was sending a clear message that young people are serious and determined to acquire skills to develop themselves and to contribute to the development of the country.
He stated that the promotion of youth potentials and talents was the aim for the establishment of the commission, and admonished graduands to continue reading if they intend to acquire more skills and training in other disciplines.
“Our responsibility as young people is not to run away from our country but to ensure that we contribute meaningfully to the nation’s development. Don’t stop to learn because this is just the beginning,” he urged.
Also, the College Coordinator, Alhaji Sulaiman Fofanah, congratulated the graduands and urged them to make good use of what they have learnt by contributing to the country’s development.
He explained that the college was established in 2005, commencing full operation in 2012, and in 2014 they received accreditation from the National Council for Technical Vocational and other Academic Awards (NCTVA) which accord them the right to award their own certificates.
He said the college was established out of passion by the Youth Commission to address the high level of unskilled and unemployed youth in the country.
“In order to accomplish this goal, the college has put in place a rigorous training programme that will equip the young people to critically assessand analyze the nation’s development problems,” he said.
Mr. Fofanah further revealed that in February 2013the college certified its first batch of five hundred students, specialising in Social Work and Development Studies, Project Writing and Information Technology, among others.