Mr Kwame Opoku Afriye, Member of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), has stressed the need for the youth to be trained to acquire skills and expertise to enable them contribute meaningfully to political and socio-economic development of the country. Mr Opoku-Afriyie was speaking at the opening of a three-day workshop for about 70 teachers in first and second cycle schools and staff of the NCCE in Kumasi on Tuesday. The workshop organized by the Project Citizen Ghana was under the theme “Consolidating Democracy through Youth Participation”. He said the project, being implemented by the NCCE, is a portfolio based Civic Education Programme for students and youth aimed at promoting competence and responsible participation in local and national governance. Mr Opoku Afriyie, a lecturer of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), expressed the hope that the project would enable young people to learn, monitor and influence public policy to help develop support for democratic values and principles, tolerance, respect for the rule of law and good citizenship Mrs. Fanny Judith Kumah, Project Coordinator, said it was the objective of the Commission to inculcate into the youth the interest to develop their rich and varied understanding of government, public-policy and citizenship. She said the project started with 20 Junior and Senior High schools in the Greater Accra and Northern regions in 2006 as pilot project with 574 students. Mrs. Kumah said the successful implementation of the project had enabled it to be extended to other regions including Central, Eastern, Volta and Ashanti regions and that 95 schools have been participating in the project. She commended the Centre for Civic Education of the United States of America (USA) and others including Hanns Seidel Foundation, Ghana Commercial Bank, Kingdom Books and Stationery Limited for sponsoring the project. Mrs. Kumah said the NCCE had submitted a budget to Parliament for approval to enable the project to be extended to other regions of the country. Source: GNA