Youth Empowerment not just about gaining Formal Education, Degrees – Rashida Saani Nasamu

Chief Executive Officer of I-Zar Group, Rashida Saani Nasamu, has stated that empowering the youth in Ghana does not only mean giving them formal education, rather it includes vocational education and skill development.

Speaking at the launch of the Zongo Skills Project, an initiative to train Zongo youth in entrepreneurship over the weekend, Madam Rashida urged the youth to master whatever skill they decide to choose.

“Empowerment doesn’t mean formal education, it also means vocational education. It simply means mastering what you have taken as a skill. Formal education gives us the IQ we are supposed to practicalize in the streets. It is important to think outside the box, get a skill and invest in yourself to ensure that you master your skill,” Rashida said.

She urged the participants to take advantage of the initiative and learn a trade in any field from “carpentry, hairdressing and consultancy but indeed not Sakawa.”

“It is time for us as young people to change the narrative by joining hands with policy makers and decision makers who are supposed to be buttressing and cushioning us on skill development to get useful to society. Skill development cannot be acquired if we do not have a good investment on learning and getting serious with whatever initiatives that has been put in place for us,” Madam Rashida disclosed.

The Zongo Skill Project is an initiative by the Institute of Youth Development with support from the Ministry for Inner Cities and Zongo development.