Young people have been urged to cultivate the habit of continuous learning in their endeavours, in order to meet the ever-changing needs of industry.
According to Professor Pikay Richardson, a lecturer at Manchester Business School, and Rosie Ebe-Arthur, a human resource consultant, this should form part of the daily lifestyle for today’s youth.
They said this when interacting with young people during season-2 of the Ghana Grows Practical Christianity Hangouts (PCH), themed ‘Upskilling and Reskilling – New skills required to stay relevant’, in Accra.
Prof. Richardson explained that continuous learning is a process from the cradle to the grave, and it requires one to be ready to upskill and reskill. Upskilling is learning to improve upon one’s skills, and reskilling means acquiring a different skills and developing them.
He is of the view that learning is the only means of improving the human capital, and it also serves as an opportunity for people to develop the needed skills that are often demanded in various fields of work or industries.
According to him, young people should not restrict themselves to the knowledge they have acquired in schools; rather, they should be ready to give up what they have in order to acquire new skills that have the potential of giving them better income and quality of life.
“You can always learn something new at any point in time irrespective of your age in life. Learning improves your human capital, so determine the skills that will bring you better income and quality of life and then go for it. It is not impossible to learn new things. It is a mindset,” he said.
In her presentation, Ms. Ebe-Arthur drew the attention of young people to the jobs that are likely to be disrupted by Artificial Intelligence (AI) and suggested measures to adopt amid the disruptions: read and research; plan and prioritise; save and sacrifice (time, money); and seek support.
She emphasised that the need for upskilling and reskilling has become necessary in this era of AI, and on that note encouraged the younger generation to scan the environment to determine changes in the work they are currently doing, planning to do – and if possible, the different area of work they intend moving into.
Turning her attention to use of social media, she advised them to be disciplined and ensure that they use it to their benefit – such as updating their profiles, especially on linkedIn, to advertise their skills to the world and not waste all their time on such platforms.
The Ghana Grows programme is a youth intervention targetting a million Ghanaian youth between the ages of 15 and 35 to be positioned beyond their barriers, and access dignified and fulfilling work by choosing a career in agric and its extended value chain. Interventions by the programme are being rolled out by the Springboard Road Foundation.
