Almost 2 million youth are not in education, employment or training – GSS



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The
2023
Annual
household
Income
and
Expenditure
Survey
(AHIES)
by
the
Ghana
Statistical
Service
(GSS)
revealed
that
as
of
the
third
quarter
of
2023,
1.9
million
youth
aged
15
to
35
years
were
not
in
education,
employment
or
training
(NEET).

The
GSS
highlighted
this
in
its
press
release
issued
on
Monday,
July
15
to
commemorate
the
World
Youth
Skills
Day.

Out
of
this,
the
number
of
females
recorded
were
1.2
million,
a
predominant
figure
compared
to
the
males
who
were
715,691.

The
GSS
said
one
in
every
three
youth
who
was
not
employed,
educated
or
trained
resided
in
the
Greater
Accra
Region.

Greater
Accra
Region
recorded
the
highest
number
of
youths
not
employed,
educated
or
trained
with
over
half
a
million
coming
from
the
region

565,360.

The
Ashanti
Region
was
next
with
352,503
youth
NEET,
Central
Region
followed
with
155,
171,
Eastern
Region
also
recorded
143,
601
and
Western
Regions
with
the
least
number,
137,
865.

The
report
said
the
youth
NEET
rate
for
females
(21%)
was
six
percentage
points
higher
than
for
males
which
is
15%.

“Greater
Accra
had
the
highest
NEET
rate
with
a
little
over
a
quarter
(26.9%)
of
the
population
15
to
35
years
not
engaged
in
education,
employment,
or
training.
North
East
Region
(19.5%)
had
the
second
highest
rate
with
about
one
in
five
youth
NEET,”
GSS
said.

All
the
regions
recorded
double
rates
for
youth
NNET
rate
except
Bono
East
which
had
8.3%.
However,
the
NEET
rate
was
higher
for
youth
in
urban
areas
(20.6%)
than
for
rural
residents
(15%).

GSS
said
in
comparing
the
youth
NEET
rate
within
the
same
period
to
that
of
2022,
the
percentage
fell
by
5.9%
from
24.1
%
in
the
third
quarter
of
2022
to
18.2%
in
2023.

“In
all,
the
total
number
of
youth
NEET
decreased
by
almost
half
a
million
(462,998)
over
the
period.
Between
the
third
quarters
of
2022
and
2023,
the
percentage
of
youth
NEET
declined
in
all
regions
except
Greater
Accra
which
experienced
a
marginal
increase
of
0.5
percentage
points,”
the
report
added.

Greater
Accra
was
the
only
region
to
record
increases
in
youth
NEET
for
both
males
and
females
between
Q3
2022
and
Q3
2023.

In
the
other
15
regions,
youth
NEET
declined
for
both
males
and
females
except
for
Western
which
recorded
a
divergent
trend
by
sex:
a
5.9
percentage
point
decrease
for
males
and
a
0.3
percentage
point
increase
for
females.

The
2024
World
Youth
Skills
Day,
with
the
theme,
“Youth
Skills
for
Peace
and
Development”
highlighted
the
need
for
targeted
interventions
to
address
the
disparities
in
education,
employment,
and
training
opportunities
for
young
people
in
Ghana.