AYPC’s internship programme is known as Young Libertarian Mentorship. The aim is to nurture young people for a career in Free Market Public Policy, and to broaden their knowledge of political economy and classical liberal thought. Interns provide assistance in doing research and in oganising seminars and conferences.
Every week we hold a research seminar on law, economics, and politics, and lectures on libertarianism. Interns participate in bi-weekly workshops on public speaking, conducting research, and writing skills.
WHO CAN APPLY?
We accept interns from high schools and universities every summer and spring. Summer interns spend two months, whilst spring interns spend six weeks.
ARE INTERNS PAID?
Interns receive a weekly allowance for lunch and transport. We are not responsible for accommodation. Interested students and recent graduates can write to interns at aypc dot org.
Top of Activities Page
STUDENT NETWORK
The student network is a monthly newsletter for students, youth, and recent graduates. It contains articles and information about events having libertarian themes. It facilitates keeping in touch with our Freedom Seminars alumni scattered around the country.
Articles are accepted from young people and others interested in free market education of youth. You can send your articles to studentnetwork at aypc dot org. You can also sign up for the network by sending a blank email to the above address, with STUDENT NETWORK as the subject.
Top of Activities Page
FREEDOM AND SOCIETY SEMINARS
Freedom and Society Seminars are organised in schools, colleges, and communities to introduce young people to libertarian principles and philosophy. Attendees explore the role of limited government, individual liberty, private property rights, free markets, the rule of law, and government non-interference in ensuring peace and prosperity.
The seminars teach young people to differentiate between sound arguments and economic nonsense, prepare them to make better personal decisions, and boost their understanding of why some countries are filthy rich and others are stinking poor. In addition, youth are encouraged to focus on the significance of institutions and policies, and to channel their vigour into creating knowledge that is useful in creating a better Africa. The youth learn, share ideas, and make new friends irrespective of their tribal, political, and religious differences. They eventually develop the kind of character other people seek for insights and explanations; these future leaders are trained to be effective advocates of the principles of a just, free, peaceful, and prosperous Africa.
We have daily and weekend seminars. We also have Freedom Camps, where young people spend a week delving into libertarian principles interspersed with activities such as voluntary service, ICT, and entrepreneurial skills. After the seminar, participants are encouraged to set up chapters of AYPC or Liberty Study Groups in their schools, colleges, and communities to continue and advance the study of liberty.
You can invite the Freedom Seminars team to hold a seminar at your school, college or community, and we will gladly accept your invitation. Interested teachers, students, youth and community leaders can invite us by writing to info at aypc dot org.
Top of Activities Page
DOING BUSINESS IN AFRICA
Africans have ideas, but lack institutions and policies to nurture them into wealth and enterprises. Most African countries languish at the bottom of the World Bank’s "Doing Business" index. This advocacy programme highlights the bottlenecks in doing business in Africa. It also serves as an early warning about economic policies that will lead to stagnation.
We generate and disseminate research, and write policy papers and opinion pieces on the African
business environment to sway policy and public opinion, in order to make the environment more
attractive to foreign direct investment and sustained domestic investment.
Current topics include
- Burdensome Taxes
- Trade Barriers
- Business Incorporation
- Insecure Property Rights
Doing Business in Africa also takes a look at why businesses fail in Africa. We will soon start an annual survey that will identify Africa’s most business-friendly nation.
Top of Activities Page
YOUTH IN FREE ENTERPRISE
Youth in Free Enterprise seeks to impart entrepreneurial skills to young students and recent graduates. We teach such basics as record-keeping, writing business plans, conducting market surveys, and ICT skills.
The programme encourages young people to consider creating jobs for themselves instead of looking to the state. We currently run "After School Blues" Entrepreneurship Workshops and a Kente weaving centre.
We will soon add a micro-credit scheme to this programme to make capital available to the youth.
Top of Activities Page
JOURNALIST WORKSHOPS
Journalists have an enormously important role to play in waging the war of ideas. The annual Journalist Workshops bring together mainstream media personnel to study classical liberalism and how it underpins prosperity.
The workshops provide insight into the philosophy of freedom to help journalists understand the political economy. The presentations by free market experts focus on policy, and offer an opportunity for journalists to understand and interpret public policy vs. free-market policies.
A greater understanding of free market economics will help journalists to understand and write about issues with more clarity and confidence. Issues like property rights, the role of private education, free trade, privatisation, the role of the state, free market environmentalism, and health care have economic implications. Improving journalists' understanding of these issues will place them in a good position to influence policy as second-hand dealers of ideas and communicators. The workshops provide a forum for media practitioners to inquire, learn, and critically analyse how to propagate sound economic ideas, development strategies, and wealth creation principles.
Top of Activities Page
DIALOGUES AND PANEL DISCUSSIONS
AYPC holds regular dialogues that provide a forum for discussing current and vital topics, to help direct policy and public opinion. The discussions stimulate extensive debate among policy makers, experts, analysts, opinion leaders, legislators, and pressmen.
Some recent dialogue topics:
- Strangling Business with Taxes
- Fighting Malaria in Ghana
Top of Activities Page
SCHOOL CHOICE
School choice means that parents can choose the schooling they think is right for their child. Very soon we plan to launch a nationwide School Choice Campaign advocating for the right of children and their parents to choose which school to attend.
Rich and middle class parents already have a variety of private schools where they can send their children, but parents with low incomes are also making large investments in their children’s future, and in spite of their aspirations, cannot afford to choose the best education for their children. These parents are forced to send their children to the inefficient government schools.
Allowing parents to make the most basic decision about which school their children will attend will likely have the additional benefit of making government schools more accountable and efficient. Current educational policy removes competition and choice from our school system, robbing it of innovation and diversification. Further, a lack of accountability throughout the system fundamentally flaws the public schools, and makes supervision ineffective.
Our children are at risk of being indoctrinated by the state-run schools. Isn’t it an absolute tragedy to see more than 150 students in one classroom, staffed by only one teacher? We seem to be paying to achieve failure.
Using school-centred subsidies instead of pupil-centred grants appears to push private basic schools out of the system. If for-profit schools can offer better education than non-profit, why should anyone hinder them? A competitive environment gives for-profit schools a stronger incentive to provide quality education at a reasonable price.
Through radio commentaries, research projects, publications, and opinion pieces, we attempt to sway public policy and opinion on educational reforms. Currently, we are striving to replace the government's recent discriminatory school-centred Capitation Grant policy by introducing pupil-centred grants for basic schools.
School choice, therefore, provides the best way of achieving the double goals of protecting the child’s right to education (clearly enshrined in our constitution), and the parents’ right to choose what is best for their child.
How should school choice be implemented? Who should be eligible to participate, and what rules and regulations are needed? Is school choice constitutional?
Principles for Reform
- Tax Cedis for education should follow students
to the schools their parents choose, whether private
or public.
- Headmasters/mistresses and teachers should be
rewarded when their schools excel.
- Parents should be given enough funding to be able to
choose among high quality secular as well as religious
schools.
- Entrepreneurs and businesses (edupreneurs) should be
free to start or manage schools.
- Schools should not receive public funding if they
teach hatred or the inferiority of any person or
group.
- Parents who choose inexpensive schools should be
allowed to deposit their savings into Education Savings
Accounts, to be used to pay for other educational
expenses or high school/college tuition.
- Schools should be regulated only to the extent needed
to ensure the safety of students.
Top of Activities Page
PUBLIC LECTURES
We organise an annual public lecture with a foreign expert as the speaker. The audience consists of politicians, policy makers, analysts, business association members, pressmen, think tank leaders, trade unionists, and students. This lecture stimulates debate on national and international issues that directly or indirectly affect all of us.
Top of Activities Page
