THE 2019 National Service Week was launched in Ho on Friday with a reminder to graduates that university degrees alone do no longer guarantee gainful and secured careers in the contemporary Ghanaian society.
This is because, the job market is now more concerned about the job seeker’s ability to perform with great impact and adapt to changes in the working environment, as well as their resilience and practical skills to boost productivity, Mr Patrick Cudjoe Asiedu, Deputy Volta Regional Director of the National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE) , has stated.
He said employers were also looking for the qualities of dedication to work, punctuality, honesty and integrity in the job seeker, rather than just a certificate.
Mr Asiedu, who was the chair at the ceremony, also entreated school leavers to be prepared to transfer their knowledge from one sector to another, in the spirit of patriotism and work with zeal and enthusiasm in any location they were assigned to.
The celebration was under the theme: ‘Rearing for food and jobs – the role of national service personnel.’
Mr Asiedu insisted that that irrespective of whatever course one pursued in the university, the knowledge he acquired could be applied in the agricultural and other sectors as well to enhance the output of those sectors.
For that matter, he said, national service personnel must readily accept postings in any part of the country and make their contributions to national development there with great impact.
“A university degree serves no purpose if the holder is not able to use it to the benefit of the community”, the deputy NCCE director stated.
In a speech read on his behalf to launch the week, Dr Archibald Yao Letsa, Volta Regional Minister, said the government had great expectations from young graduates “since it is our hope that you are very competent people who will be of use to society”.
He said the nation was looking up to them to complete the national service and enter into another important phase of their lives.
Dr Letsa indicated that the Planting for Food and Jobs programme, for instance, was one measure instituted to give opportunities to the youth to create employment and wealth for themselves.
The Volta Regional Director of the National Service Scheme, Mr Ambrose Entsiwah Jnr, said that the region received a total of number of 5,611 national service personnel in the service year which was just about to end.
He congratulated the service personnel for the hard work and commended them for not engaging in any form of unrest during the service year.
FROM ALBERTO MARIO NORETTI, HO
