Government commits to revitalise healthcare through skills development project

In a move to bolster Ghana’s healthcare system and facilitate sustainable recovery of post COVID-19 pandemic, the government is committed to meeting the Post COVID-19 Skills Development and Productivity Enhancement Project (PSDPEP) objectives.

This initiative has a five-year span from 2022 to 2027 and consists of three components aimed at strengthening skills and improving productivity within the health sector, while also supporting the restoration of livelihoods, income, employment opportunities, and private sector development.

Mr MacDonald Acquah, a Monitoring and Evaluation Expert of the PSDPEP on behalf of the Project Coordinator at the advocacy training programme in Accra, outlined three components of the project.

These involved skill development in higher education for strengthening the health sector; rebuilding youth and women’s livelihoods through entrepreneurship and employment creation; and project management.

The advocacy training programme on health, gender, youth entrepreneurship, and Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) was organised by the Institute of Digital Marketing and Communication (IDMC) Ghana for the staff of the Ghana News Agency.

With the active engagement in capacity building and the implementation of innovative solutions, the government seeks to ensure that Ghana’s health services were not only resilient, but also adequately equipped to meet future demands.

Mr Acquah said, component two of the Project involved construction of four technical and vocational skills development centres at St. Johns Technical Training Institute in the Upper West Region.

Others include the Nsoatre Technical Training Institute in the Bono Region, Abetifi Technical Training Institute in the Eastern Region; and Otaakrom Training Institute in the Ashanti Region.

The project would provide technical and entrepreneurial skills trainings for youth and women and other vulnerable groups to enhance their productivity and employability in construction, tourism, creative arts, hospitality, and Information Communication Technology (ICT), he said.

He said that procurement processes were ongoing under to engage consultants to digitalise the loan management system of Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC) to enhance its efficiency, coverage and to create about 20,000 indirect jobs within the implementation period.

He also said that the project had established a credit facility of four million dollars to support MSMEs of women and youth to recover from the impact of COVID-19 and create at least 4,800 jobs.

The credit facility was also meant to form a basis for the establishment of Ghana’s Youth Entrepreneurship Investment Bank (YEIB).

He added that procurement processes for the engagement of contractors for the construction of training and research facilities for the Department of Medical Microbiology, Biotechnology centre, and the School of Nursing and Midwifery of University of Ghana, were also ongoing.

He mentioned that the project had so far awarded scholarships to 16 MPhil and PhD students to undertake research in Microbiology.

The project was in the process of awarding Scholarships for 25 MPhil and six PhD students to undertake a two-year MPhil and a four-year PhD programme in Biotechnology.

He assured the commitment of the Government, the African Development Bank (AfDB) and other implementing partners to ensure the successful completion of the project in the due time.

The PSDPEP project is being funded from a grant facility of $28.5 Million from the African Development Bank (AfDB).

Source: GNA

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