USAG HAPPY ABOUT NATIONAL YOUTH POLICY (PAGE 11, AUGUST 20, 2010)

THE University Students’ Association of Ghana (USAG) has commended the government for coming out with a national youth policy which spells out the government’s vision on development and direction of the youth and their place in the socio-economic transformation of the country.
The association said now that the policy has been launched, it should not be kept on the shelves but should be implemented in order to give a focus to the youth to accelerate the Better Ghana attainment.
The association however appealed to the government as a matter of urgency to institute a probe into the use of the internally generated funds (IGFs) of the universities and also for the establishment of a system whereby university education will be made free for all to curtail the hardship confronting students and their guardians in the quest for higher education in the country.
Mr Enoch Anhwere Afoakwah, the National President of USAG made the commendation on behalf of the association at its 8th Annual Congress at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) campus at Fiapre, near Sunyani in the Brong Ahafo Region.
The four-day congress is on the theme “Re-engineering the mentality of the youth towards national development: the role of government and university students”. The association also celebrated this year’s International Youth Day, which fell on August 12, 2010. It would also elect new national officers for the association.
Mr Afoakwah in his address noted with regret that governments had not done much on the implementation of Article 25 clause 1 section ‘C’ and ‘E’ under the Educational rights enshrined in the 1992 constitution which states that; higher education shall be made equally accessible to all on the basis of capacity, by every appropriate means and in particular, by progressive introduction of free education and the development of a system of schools with adequate facilities at all levels.
Mr Afoakwah on behalf of the association also appealed to President J.E.A. Mills as a matter of urgency to ratify the African youth charter, institute a national youth commission and continue to implement and improve upon the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), the School Feeding Programme, National Youth Employment Programme among others.
He noted that good governance required that, beyond general elections, the people have enough space to participate in national decision making and this required information.
The association therefore added its voice to the call by the Ghana Coalition on the Right to Information for the government to expedite action on the passage of the right to information bill into law within the shortest time possible.
In an address read on his behalf by Mr Mike Gyamfi, a Deputy Director at the Regional Coordinating Council the Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Mr Kwadwo Nyamekye-Marfo urged tertiary students to be pacesetters for their peers to emulate since indiscipline among the youth was undermining the fabric of the Ghanaian society in recent times.
He gave the assurance that the government would continue to provide modern infrastructure at all levels of education .
Mr Nyamekye-Marfo stated further that the land acquisition process for the university had started and upon its conclusion, the construction stage will take off in earnest in the shortest time possible with the first batch of student intake for the university scheduled for August 2011, the latest.