The International Operations Manager of Future Careers Ghana, Papi-Paulo Zigah, is urging the government to be intentional about the career development of young people by integrating careers education into the school curriculum, to ensure every child benefits from total education that will lead to them working in their desired careers in the future.
Mr. Zigah said this during a tour of Future Careers Ghana to some schools in the Tema and Ashaiman enclave to introduce CareerPlan, which is a complete career education programme for young people between the ages of 12 and 18, aimed at helping the youth make an informed decision about what subjects to study and their career goals.
This vital aspect of education is designed to provide the youth with important information, advice, and guidance on how to choose a career path, and will also benefit from career planning support, which includes help with finding work experience placement.
He intimated that the first step in planning one’s career is to know oneself as it is crucial to first identify one’s interests, values, skills, and personality preferences in order to make a well-informed decision.
Mr. Zigah mentioned that learning about one’s interests will help him or her to identify opportunities to pursue and topics most naturally drawn to, making learning and work more motivating and enjoyable as values greatly influence the career decision-making process, job satisfaction, and ultimately, life satisfaction.
He explained that skills are the things that one is good at and have the ability to do well in, and so assessing one’s skills allows them to determine what to acquire or further develop, the specific ways to accomplish those goals, and how one’s skills match with potential careers.
Mr. Zigah said, “career guidance is supposed to start at the age of 12 or when a child enters high school and that without guidance from the age of 12, the child will mainly be influenced by friends because peer pressure is more effective at that stage.”
He said, “when you think about CareerPlan, think about accessibility in terms of careers education that is making it accessible for every young person to be able to have a dedicated guidance officer to approach whenever in doubt or have questions.”
Mr. Frank Abankwa-Ntim, the Business Development Officer at Future Careers Ghana, on his part, identified the need for enterprise education to be encouraged as it develops the capacity for learners to create and demonstrate how ideas are developed into innovative products and services which deliver economic, cultural, intellectual, environmental and social value.
Enterprise education, he noted, provides learning opportunities that help students develop the attitude, knowledge, and skills of the entrepreneur, and enables learners to develop confidence, self-reliance, and a determination to succeed.
He said, “our enterprise education programme develops specific knowledge on how to start a venture that capitalises on that idea, and we use real start-up projects rather than experimental learning to equip learners to create profitable and sustainable businesses.”
“We deliver our courses in a well-equipped enterprise hub, providing learners with the perfect environment to build a successful business. The hub also provides access to experienced business consultants and specialists to support learners with their start-up project.”
Mr. Abankwa-Ntim, who doubles as the Operations Manager, noted that Future Careers Ghana is here to support all the youth of the country, and remains committed to reducing the number of young people who are not in any form of education, employment, or training.
“We understand that young people may face multiple barriers to seeking individualised support tailored to their specific needs, and this is where our specially trained career development officers are here to help overcome those obstacles.”
He, therefore, encouraged young people aged 19 to 30 who are not currently in any form of education, employment, or training, whatever the circumstance; to contact Future Careers Ghana to get independent career guidance and support.
Young people are assured of access to CareerPlan (Career Guidance and Planning), CV writing/ Interview Coaching, Free UK accredited courses, Volunteering, Traineeships and Internships, and Job Search.