The 2021 year group of the Ho, Tamale and Accra Schools of Hygiene have told the government as well as the Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, Freda Prempeh, not to put them on the Youth Employment Agency (YEA) programme, as has been speculated in some quarters.
Expressing their grievance in a press conference on Wednesday, October 18, 2023, the acting president of the group, Ayrakwa Elvis, said they completed school in 2021 and have been home since the 1-year mandatory national service programme.
He said while at home, they have heard and intercepted documents that show that their parent ministry, Sanitation and Water Resources, is working with the YEA to absorb them into less formal employment.
According to them, plans are far advanced to use them as sanitation guards, paying them less than the time and resources they spent undergoing their training.
Mr. Ayrakwa asserted that they don’t like to be used as sanitation guards because they weren’t trained to be such, and that even if they accepted the postings, the money that was going to be given to them would not be worth it.
“We are professionals from the school of Hygeine who have completed school and are awaiting postings. We have heard from the media that the government intends to absorb and migrate us to the Youth Employment Programme, which we do not have interest in, and even if we do, the allowance would amount to something. Meanwhile, we have been to school and have paid expensive fees for training,” he stated.
He also urged the heads of various training schools to rally to reject the government’s proposal.
“We are pleading with the principals across the various training schools across the country not to adhere to the new plans of the government”.
He disclosed that their total number as of 2021 was 900, but it has increased significantly because it has been three years since they completed school.
