YEA trains 500 recruits as Prison Office Assistants

The Youth Employment Agency (YEA) has partnered with the Ghana Prison Service to commence training for over 500 personnel as Prison Office Assistants (POA) at the Prison Officers’ Training School in Ankaful.

The personnel, currently under training, are part of a targeted 2000 young men and women being recruited across the country to support the prisons service to deliver on its mandate of transforming inmates into socially acceptable characters suitable for reintegration and conducive cohabitation in society.

In a speech read for him, the YEA Chief Executive Officer, Kofi Baah Agyepong, admonished the trainees to show commitment, dedication and love for the country as they go through the training to become part of one of the highly-rated disciplined institutions, the Ghana Prisons Service.

“Many a time, we look down on our prisons as a place where condemned members of the society are kept. In as much as it may appear so, there is an arduous responsibility on us to help change these persons into new characters suitable for conducive co-habitation in society. Today, a modern prison is not just a place for custody but a place to reform, rehabilitate and reintegrate social deviants back into the society. This training has been tailored to achieve just that,” he said.

He further announced the decision by the Service to absorb all POA into its mainstream service, after they have successfully served their two years contract with the YEA.

Mr Kofi Agyepong described the arrangement as a super strategy instituted by his outfit to find permanent jobs for the beneficiaries.

Maximum discipline

The Director of Human Resources of Prison Service, Ernest Asante Adofo, congratulated the new recruits for making it through all the processes that qualified them to participate in the training to become POAs.

He gave the assurance that the trainers will instill in the personnel maximum discipline, dedication and service to Ghana.

Speaking to the Daily Statesman, the Central Regional Director of the Youth Employment Agency, Sarah Afful, said the second batch of recruits will begin their training after successful application and shortlisting.