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Youth Alliance is joining hands with the entire world to celebrates Young People on the 12th of August, 2014 on the theme �Youth and Mental Health �. We call on leaders across the world to institute pragmatic measures to deal with discrimination and stigmatization which youths with mental health conditions encounter in their quest to access basic facilities in our communities. We call on the Government of Ghana to pay serious attention to the few special Schools in the country and employ special needs teachers in our mainstream schools. We are also reiterating our call over the years on the government to adopt a practical and skills oriented educational system that can equip young people with employable skills. We believe that a long term strategy to deal with unemployment calls for an overhauling of Ghana�s educational system for much emphasis to be placed on Vocational and Technical Education, Entrepreneurship and Critical thinking which have a potential of making our learners self employed after school. We use this opportunity to hammer our suggestion for a one year apprenticeship programme for all Senior High School graduates before their tertiary education to equip them with practical skills that have the tendency of making them economically self sustained. Additionally government must place BECE candidates who fail to get placement into apprenticeship programmes and provide support for their training. In connection with this, we recommend that government abolishes tariffs on imported tools and equipment used by young entrepreneurs. We also appeal to the West African Examination Council (WAEC) to consider using other forms of assessing students at the basic level such as their capabilities in agriculture, sports, sewing, catering and recommend them for further studies in their areas of interest. We support our argument with a quote from Albert Einstein who said �Everybody is genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.� We use this occasion to appeal to the government to quickly do something about the skyrocketing of school fees across all levels of our educational system which is putting stress on parents. We wish all young people well������ HAPPY YOUTH DAY Thank You Signed Ali Tanti Robert Badini Mustapha Al-hassan Executive Director Communication Director 0246486740, 0206125181 0244450060, 0207510294 Youth Alliance for Development is a youth led NGO which works in the areas of empowerment, health, sustainable environment, research, advocacy, education, and skills development of young people.