THE YOUTH AND NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

The term youth refer to the active and potential manpower before the retiring age especially between the ages of 10 and 25 years.

 National development refers to the progress made by a nation to overcome the social, political and economic problems in order to improve the standard and quality of life of the people living in that country.

 

Characteristics of the youth

§  They possess great physical strength (thus, they are active and energetic)

§  They are dominated by peer influence

§  They are conscious of appearing attractive

§  They easily adapt to changes

§  They tend to be antagonistic to authority

§  They possess the desire to be independent and self-reliant

§  They act on impulse

§  They like to experiment

 

The role or expectation of the youth in national development

§  Efficient use of their energy and exuberance

§  Preparing themselves adequately to take of leadership roles

§  Being mentally prepared for national development

§  The youth are expected to be honest in their dealings

§  Participation in communal activities

§  Using their knowledge to help in mobilizing resources

§  Active participation in public education

§  Contribute ideas and skills in drawing development plans

§  They must take initiatives in development projects in their localities

§  They must form pressure groups to draw attention of community leaders, district assemblies and government to problems

§  Leading sound moral values

§  By protecting the assets of the community or country

§  By fulfilling their tax obligations

 

Problems or challenges confronting the youth

§  Pressure from elders in the society to do wrong things

§  Inadequate parental control

§  Difficulty in adapting to new environment

§  The mass media and foreign influence

§  The educational system does not equip them with the needed skills

§  Negative behaviours of the youth

§  Lack of employment opportunities

§  Exhibiting negative attitude to work

§  They lack the sense of patriotism

§  They are not prepared to learn from the aged

§  Low level of formal education

§  Inadequate motivation from the society

§  Inefficient and ineffective national policy for the youth

§  Difficulties in acquiring financial assistance

 

How the youth can effectively be prepared to contribute to national development

§  The youth should be given relevant education and training

§  The youth should be given relevant guidance and counselling

§  Exposing them to proper role-models

§  Provision of employment opportunities

§  Providing a realistic youth policy

§  Establishing training institutions for the youth

§  By involving the youth in decision making

 

How the youth can demonstrate their commitment to national development

§  Participating in developmental projects in their areas

§  Taking up responsibilities willingly

§  Committed to the developmental agenda of the country

§  Developing positive work attitude

 

Avenues for training and preparing the youth

·         National Youth Employment Programmes

·         Opportunity Industrialization Centre

·         National Service Scheme

·         Apprenticeship programmes

·         Community information Centre

·         Youth Empowerment for life

·         Graduate Enterprise Development Initiative

·         Youth Enterprise Support

·         Youth in Agricultural Programme or Planting for food and jobs

·         Fisheries Training Programme

·         Youth Employment Agency

·         National Vocational Training Institute (NVTI)

·         Youth Enterprise Support

·         Savana Development Authority (SADA)- Tricycle assembling programme

  • Ghana Youth Employment and Entrepreneurial Development (GYEEDA)
  • The mass media
  • The family
  • Rural Enterprise Programme
  • Formal education system
  • Nation Builder's Corps
  • Gratis Foundation
  • Religious institutions

 


Avenues through which the youth can search for employment

§  Self employment

§  Newspaper adverts

§  Personal contacts

§  Internet sources

§  Employment agencies

§  Labour offices

 

Financial security

Financial security refers to measures put in place to ensure that the future is financially secured. One major way to secure the future financially is through savings.

 

Savings

Savings refer to ways by which the individual put aside money for future use. It is a sacrifice that one has to make.

OR

Sacrificing and putting money in financial and other related reliable institutions for the purposes of meeting unforeseen exigencies and investment in the future

OR

Putting part of one's earnings in reliable financial institutions for safety purposes and to earn interest in the long run for future use.

 

Avenues for savings

§  Rural banks

§  Commercial banks                

§  Susu companies

§  Piggy (susu) box

§  Credit unions

§  Savings and loans

§  microfinance companies

§  Insurance companies

§  Building societies

§  Stock exchange

§  Central bank

§  Mutual funds

§  Development Investment banks e.g. NIV, ADB

 

Importance of savings to the individual and the nation

o   Enhances safe keeping of money

o   Helps the individual to meet unexpected expenses

o   The individual get interest on his saved money

o   It helps the individual to check or control his spending

o   Promote proper management of finances

o   Helps to secure the future financially.

o   It enables the individual to have access to loan facilities.

o   It helps to minimize borrowing

o   Helps to accumulate money for investment

o   Helps to undertake personal development

ü  Improvement in the standard of living of the people

ü  Helps government to initiate developmental projects

ü  Helps the banks to get profits and then uses some of the profit for scholarship schemes to support the needy

 

How individuals can plan for their future

§  Opening savings accounts

§  Joining susu schemes

§  Making investments in shares, bonds, stocks and treasury bills and fixed deposits

§  Joining credit unions

§  Taking up insurance policies with insurance companies

§  Contributing to social security and national insurance trust fund (SSNIT)

 

Ways individuals can protect themselves from financial fraudsters

§  Being careful when sending money to people

§  Protect your Personal Identification Number (PIN) and passwords

§  Avoid the practice of keeping huge sum of money on you

§  Do not delegate your financial transactions to people

§  Do not reply messages from unknown people requesting for your financial details

§  Keep your check book safe

§  Block people suspected to be fraudsters on social media

§  Report suspected fraudsters to the police

§  Check the financial credibility of the financial institution before dealing with them.

 

PATRIOTISM (allegiance)

Patriotism refers to the love, loyal support, readiness as well as the willingness of a person to make sacrifices for his country. It involves devotion of the individual to his country.

 

Ways of instilling patriotism into the youth

§  Youth educational programmes

§  Support for youth initiated projects

§  Effective national service scheme

§  Involving the youth in decision making

§  Teaching the youth patriotic songs

§  Involving the youth in national festivals and events

§  Honouring the past and distinguished people in the country

§  Good and responsible leadership by those in authority