ICT AND YOUTH DEVELOPMENT IN GHANA

The prevailing revolution in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) presents us with a unique opportunity to harness its diverse innovations in developing the capacity of the nation’s human resource to enable them effectively lead and influence Ghana’s accelerated development.

Undoubtedly, the youth have become trailblazers in the Information and Communication Technology sector owing to their ability to swiftly adapt to current and emerging information and communication innovations. Their ingenuity and dexterity in ICT presents Ghana with bright prospects in becoming a pacesetter in the utilization of Information and Communication Technology for development (ICT4D).

Following the significant role that Information and Communication Technology (ICT) play in youth development, the youth manifesto of Ghana has proposed series of results oriented actions relevant in promoting youth and ICT development in Ghana. These actions include:

Utilizing ICT to enhance education and youth employment: in the view of the youth manifesto of Ghana, a careful review of the current integration approach of ICT in to the nation’s educational curricula will ensure that Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is not only presented to students as a new subject, but also a platform to harness and develop the ingenuity and dexterity of the youth in creating and utilizing ICT applications to address societal challenges.

Furthermore, the youth manifesto of Ghana recommends that all educational institutions in Ghana should be  equipped with well resourced Information and Communication Technology (ICT) facilities that provides every student with hands on practical training under the instruction of well experienced instructors in order to enable them acquire the best of skills training in ICT.

The youth manifesto of Ghana also points out to the need to institute the requisite mechanisms that ensure improved and widespread access to Information and Communication Technology in rural communities of Ghana.

In its view, improving access to ICT’s in rural areas will provide the rural youth the opportunity to receive distance education via various e-learning platforms in order to develop their capacities with quality education that is comparable to the standards at the disposal of the urban youth.

This will also contribute significantly in making education widely accessible as well as reduce the huge infrastructure demands in our educational institutions for the provision of quality education.

Instituting the needed mechanisms to improve the access and use of ICT in rural areas will also equip rural schools with wide range of educational books via e-libraries to facilitate the provision of quality education; that is able to better position the rural youth in leading and influencing national development.These interventions will to a large extend reduce the rate of rural-urban migration which is mostly influenced by the disparities in resource allocation between rural and urban sectors of the country.

In its quest to present innovative and  alternative actions to improve upon youth employment in Ghana, the youth manifesto of Ghana further recommends for the development of the country’s e-commence sector in order to enable it harness the diverse ICT innovations to enhance youth employment.

A developed e-commence sector will provide young entrepreneurs with enormous opportunities in building up viable enterprises that are able to compete favorably at  national, regional and  international levels and thus provide the much needed jobs and job opportunities to curtail the surging youth unemployment in Ghana.

In the same vein, developing Ghana’s e-commence sector will greatly open up commence across the country to promote the growth of the private sector with many more youth business enterprises; thereby  widening up the tax net for increased national revenue to propel the nations growth and development.

Facilitating the use of ICT to promote youth participation in national development; Information and Communication Technology (ICT) continues to drive a paradigm shift in the way the citizenry are mainstreamed in to national development. It is therefore in this regard that the youth manifesto of Ghana champions the innovative use of ICT’s in promoting the active participation of the youth in national development.

The youth manifesto of Ghana therefore recommends for the institution of e-governance systems that provides the youth the opportunity to make inputs in to local and national governance processes. This will ensure that national development policies and programs are formulated to better address the challenges militating against youth development and the development of the nation at large.

Also, the institution of e-governance systems will provide young entrepreneurs the opportunity to establish the needed private-public partnerships to develop their enterprises for the creation of jobs and job opportunities to augment efforts by the public sector in curtailing the rising levels of youth unemployment in the country.

Furthermore, the institution of well structured e-governance systems will serve as a capacity development platform for the youth to learn about the nation’s governance systems in order to acquire the requisite skills and knowledge in governance to enable them provide efficient leadership for accelerated national development.

The operation of efficient e-governance systems will provide up to date online information on government resources to better inform and engage the youth in national development; as it will enable youth and youth development organizations come up with innovative development programs that propels the nation’s growth and development.

Undoubtedly, strengthening e-governance systems in the country will enhance the nation’s strives at fighting bribery and corruption; as the youth will play watch dog roles in ensuring that Ghana’s rich resources are well managed to promote the country’s  development.

The engagement of the youth in fighting bribery and corruption through various e-governance systems will also contribute greatly in developing young leaders of high integrity to promote good governance for national growth and development.

The youth manifesto of Ghana therefore calls for the support and commitment of government and its development partner’s as well as the private sector and all unsandry to champion Ghana’s youth and ICT development agenda in order to harness the ingenuity and dexterity of the Ghanaian youth in ICT for national growth and development.