Having an open mind of how we intend to contribute to the economic growth and development of the state is something that has been thought of over the time even before a popular regime took over. Our education is one of the key factors that have been discussed both by the old and young folks in our society. We have seen that education is a way of bringing youths to the national theater. The role of education in positioning and providing youths with access to effective engagement in national development which is a way of incorporating them in the decision making process of the nation’s governance, nation building activities where they are welcomed, with accurate and comprehensive information will empower them to make healthy decisions.
However, the prevailing circumstances in our country have extenuated the potentials of youths as agents of social change. We have understood that these challenges range from the economic and social to cultural. The sensitivity of our youths has been greatly challenged due to their entrapment into the treacherous triangle of poverty, illiteracy and unemployment. And this is what those who studied Sociology referred to as “attitudes of fatalism, resignation and acceptance of the situation”. The persistence of these social problems has created an environment where youths are cheaply available for manipulation by self-seeking politicians. Poverty, illiteracy, sexism, and unemployment are interrelated circumstances that generate human needs and therefore constitute a state of deprivation.
As the youth continue to remain in this state, there is a pent-up emotions and untapped energies. They provide cheap labour to execute the design of political gladiators and ethnic champions. There is an urgent need to arrest these conditions and signal society to reconsider its decision on the participation of youths in nation building. Youths are critical thinkers in society. They are the firebrand tools that drive a nation to its great path of development. Youths must be highly incorporated into national development as a whole. As we are aware that the essence of youth participation in national development is to promote ownership and sustainability of change of interventions, strengthen their abilities to meet their own subsistence need, to prevent and reduce vulnerabilities to economic, political and social unstable environment, to help them gain entry into target communities and build up trust and social capital.
In order for our youthful generation to achieve the above listed qualities and deny acceptance to fail our nation, there is a great need that we as a people give our youths the opportunity to develop their capacities through balanced education and exposure. To help guide them stay away from crime, we are to help them through trainings and vocational knowledge that will make them relevant as a means of getting them involved in leadership at different levels of society and not only government.
Adetsu Mawulawoe Patience
Location: Accra Dome
Wow
A great piece