Many young people are bored, frustrated, depressed and unproductive not because they are less human but because they have never discovered and developed their God –given gifts, talents and skills to function effectively and efficiently in their service to humanity. Many are in prison doing daily what they are not wired or equipped to do. There is a great disconnect between their natural abilities,
gifts and talents and the career path they have undertaken or chosen. They have qualifications in areas that do not enhance their personhood and personalities. Therefore work for them becomes dreary toil; they feel trapped in their jobs hence their capacity and potential for productivity is reduced. And since they do not love and enjoy their work creativity and originality which engender quality, growth and development at the workplace are compromised. Because of the mismatch between talent and skill, many young people are demotivated and demoralized and these factors have greatly contributed to the problem of youth unemployment and underemployment. The educational system has not made things better as it has put more emphasis on academic performance through the grading system and the result has been mass production: a learned but not educated populace. And it is on this altar that the spirit of creativity and originality responsible for innovation, invention and personal initiative have been murdered, killed and sacrificed. As a result acquisition, possession and prestige are valued and pursued more than creativity, production and profit which require hard work, determination and merit. This has negatively affected the mentality and attitude of many young people and the society at large leading to dependency, short-cuts, cheating in exams, corruption, wastage of resources through ostentatious consumption and self – indulgence. At Letrads we seek to enhance youth employability by equipping them with Job readiness skills. We believe that education and apprenticeship sharpens talents and skills and helps the young people believe in their own capacity to succeed. We therefore address all dimensions of young people's lives: psychosocial, cognitive and spiritual development. Our Vision is to provide them with adequate education and life skills for innovation.
