The Institute of Paralegal Training and Leadership Studies (IPLS) has called for an integration of conflict resolution programme into the secondary education curriculum.
That, according to the Institute, would help to build the capacity of the youth in preventing and resolving conflicts of all forms that continue to affect productivity and peaceful co-existence.
Mr Isaac Asare, Administrator of the Institute, in an interview with ADR Daily, said there was a need for Ghana’s education system to adopt Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) training to build the capacity of the youth at an early age.
In so doing, he believed it would offer the opportunity for the youth to pursue ADR as a career.
According to him, it remains regrettable that the education system has not adopted ADR education, leaving training institutions with no option than to offer it as a professional programme.
Mr Asare argued that although ADR is a professional practice, securing the basics at the secondary and undergraduate levels would help graduates to pursue it as a career.
“Conflict resolution should be part of our curriculum right from the basic level to conscientise young people about how to prevent or peacefully resolve disputes,” he stressed.
Currently, he said the National Accreditation Board tells ADR training institutions that “ADR does not fit into our system.”
That has led most of the private training institutions to partner foreign institutions to run the professional programmes in the country.
He prayed that the situation would change, and hoped that the National ADR Centre would be established to regulate the practice and enhance the ADR training.
Touching on the performance of the Institute, Mr Asare noted that the IPLS has trained over 500 ADR practitioners since its establishment in 2013.
He said although not many of the graduates have gone into private practice, many were using the skills acquired in their organisations.
The Institute, he said, has plans for expansion, including introducing online training to produce the requisite personnel for the ADR sector.
“We see Ghana becoming a hub for ADR in West Africa,” he said.
By Nii Adotey/adrdaily.com
