Standards Authority asks all NABCO trainees to proceed on mandatory leave

The Ghana Standard Authority (GSA) has asked all trainees under the Nation Builders Corps (NABCO) programme working with the authority to proceed on a two-week mandatory leave starting Monday, November 1.

A notice signed by Douglas Nii Teiko Annan and dated 29th October 2021 said “As part of the exit plan of the NABCO programme which ends this month, we write to inform all NABCO trainees to proceed on two weeks mandatory leave effective Monday 2021-II-1 to 2021-11-15.

“The Mandatory leave has become necessary for management in consultation with the National NABCO secretariat to plan and strategize on retaining trainees for the services of the authority.”

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on Tuesday, 1st May 2018, launched the NABCO initiative.

According to President Akufo-Addo, “NABCO will be the vehicle to deliver one hundred thousand (100,000) jobs in seven (7) prioritised areas, defined as the following modules: Educate Ghana; Heal Ghana; Feed Ghana; Revenue Ghana; Digitise Ghana; Enterprise Ghana; and Civic Ghana.”

Explaining the rationale for the establishment of the Corps, President Akufo-Addo noted that the grim story of youth unemployment had been a tragic part of the lives of Ghanaians for far too long in Ghana.

The situation he said was worsened by the ban placed on public sector employment by the International Monetary Fund at the time.

“I gave an indication that a new employment scheme will be launched to tackle the issue of the growing numbers of graduates exiting our tertiary institutions with no job placements in sight,” he said.

NABCO’s central focus, the President said, would be to create employment avenues and opportunities for young people who hold diplomas or degrees from accredited tertiary institutions, adding that “NABCO will enhance the dignity and self-esteem of our graduates, and will also present them with the added benefit of efficiency and effectiveness in the delivery of some essential public services.”

President Akufo-Addo was confident that by the time NABCO trainees exit the scheme, which is for a 3-year period, “the requisite work readiness skills and experience, often deemed a barrier to their employment as fresh graduates, would have been resolved.”