Ministry Gets Licence for International Award
The Ministry of Youth and Sports has achieved another milestone by acquiring a “Full Licence” for the Duke of Edinburgh International Award. Also known as DEIA, the award is available to all individuals between the ages of 14 and 24 years and is the world’s leading youth achievement award.
The ministry, being the national operator of the award, last year received a provisional licence with provisions to fulfil certain requirements and conditions to acquire the full licence.
Presented at The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award 2018 Forum currently taking place in Ghana, the full licence was received by National Award Board member Jenny Seeto and programme manager Olivia Tawaqa on behalf of the ministry.
Since the early 1990s, the Ministry of Youth and Sports has been the national award operator co-ordinating the programme with support from the Ministry of Education, Heritage and Arts through participating secondary schools and youth clubs. “To date, we have registered 75 award units in both secondary schools and youth clubs, 117 award leaders and 1438 young people,” Ms Tawaqa said.
“The International Award is a voluntary, non-competitive, balanced and enjoyable programme that requires sustained effort over time aimed at encouraging young people to design their own activities, set their own goals, explore their potential and challenge them to achieve set targets,” she said. The award is comprised of three levels and four sections with participants required to complete all four sections at each level in order to achieve their award.
The service section of the award encourages young people to volunteer their time to and understand the benefits of this service to their community.
Participants are required to provide service over a set period of time that enables them to experience the benefits it provides to others and demonstrate social responsibility.
The forum in Ghana is being attended by more than 300 delegates, including business people from 130-member countries across the world.
Also known as DEIA, the Award is available to all individuals between the ages of 14 to 24 years and is the world’s leading youth achievement award.