The National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) has announced a series of activities to allow the youth to make more inputs into the country’s development planning strategies.
The activities, which include essay-writing competitions, quizzes, training programmes and seminars, are expected to kick-start in August this year.
The Director-General of the NDPC, Dr Nii Moi Thompson, announced this during a courtesy call on the commission by the staff and students of Vilac International School (VIC) last Friday.
The visit was part of activities marking the school’s annual Career Day celebration.
The students were taken through the various aspects of the country’s current 40-year development plan, whose implementation is set to begin in 2018, and other development initiatives.
It also afforded them the opportunity to ask questions centred on the long-term development plan.
Youth engagement
Dr Thompson said the NDPC was currently in discussions with the Ministry of Education, the National Youth Authority and other stakeholders to create a platform for the youth to contribute meaningfully to the development planning of the country.
“We want to have more engagement with young people, so that they will feel part of the country’s development and also have faith in themselves. It is not enough to have a vision about the country’s development without engaging those who will actually propel the vision into reality,’’ he said.
He described the youth as the fulcrum of the country’s long-term development plan, adding, “Anything that has to do with the future is youth oriented.”
Syllabus
Dr Thompson intimated that the commission was exploring the idea of making the 40-year, long-term development initiative part of the country’s educational curriculum.
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