Associate Professor of Economics at the Economics Department of the University of Ghana has asked the government to make an effective exit strategy for beneficiaries of the Nation Builders Corps (NABCO) one of its priorities.
Prof William Baah-Boateng says without a credible exit strategy, the initiative that aims at tackling youth unemployment may worsen the situation.
An exit strategy is typically aimed at ensuring that beneficiaries who exit the programme would be given the opportunity to further train in one of the many modules they signed up for during the three-year attachment to the NABCO.
In some instances, those who are unable secure training are supported with funds to begin their own businesses.
“[NABCO] initiators must think through the exit strategy,” Prof Baah-Boateng said on Joy FM/MultiTV’s news analysis programme Newsfile, Saturday.
He said providing an informed critique on the recently launched scheme to promote graduate employment is very difficult because a comprehensive document backed by background research has not been published.
He notes that without a proper exit strategy, the beneficiaries of NABco will add to the already straining public sector wage bill.
NABCO thumbs up
Although the scheme has been criticised as a political gimmick by some and a duplication of the job of the Youth Employment Authority (YEA), Prof Baah-Boateng said so long as the scheme targets unemployment challenges in the short-term, it is good.
“In unemployment issues, if you stay unemployed for a long time, you are not able to put your hand on something to do it is even more difficult to get a job,” the Economics professor said to defend the work experience that NABCO will provide beneficiaries.
“NABCO shouldn’t be driven by politics, and that is my concern. Many at times we don’t look at problems from the social and economic perspective…they come from politicians, sometimes on political platforms without doing research into it and when it comes into fruition, then it becomes a problem for all of us,” he counselled.
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