GOVERNMENT BRIDGES THE GAP BETWEEN INDUSTRY AND TVET
The Government of President Akufo Addo has bridged the gap between the Industry and TVET over the last five years. This was made known by Dr. Fred Kyei Asamoah on Tuesday, 31st January, 2023 during a press briefing organized at the Headquarters of the Commission.
According to Dr. Asamoah, the Government since 2017, has established Sector Skills Bodies which are made up of industry players and the academia to bridge this gap. Sector Skills Bodies are a group of related industries that come together under a common structure to drive growth and competitiveness across the sector by focusing on exploration of business opportunities, innovation and capacity needs within the sectors.
These Sector Skills Bodies play a leading role in the development of TVET curriculums and standards generation in the TVET sector.
In addition, the Government has also conducted Skills Gap Analysis and Audit. The findings from this report have contributed to the work of the Sector Skills Bodies to help with the generation and upgrading of standards within the Competency-Based Training (CBT) Framework. The Commission is also developing 100 Curriculum or Competency Based Training (CBT) packages from level one (proficiency) to level five (higher national diploma) of the national TVET qualification framework as part of the Ghana Jobs and Skills Project being implemented by the Government. These are in addition to the already existing forty-seven (47) curriculums which have already been developed by the Commission since 2017 under the new leadership.
Dr. Asamoah further intimated that, although one of the biggest drawbacks to the provision of quality TVET was the poor state of training facilities and equipment and lack of linkage to the industry, the government has invested massively in TVET over the last five years. The upgrading and modernization of all the erstwhile 34 National Vocational and Technical Institutes (NVTI’s) has been completed and inaugurated. “We are also constructing five (5) new District TVET centers of excellence ongoing with that of Anyinam and Pakyi No. 2 near completion whiles that of Assin Jakai, Manso Abore, and Akomadan at various stages of completion”, he remarked.
The Ghana-China Project for the rehabilitation and upgrading of Technical Universities and Technical Institutes which includes construction of new workshops/laboratories and supply and installation of equipment fit for disciplines in Electrical and Electronics engineering, Welding technology, Automotive maintenance, Civil Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering was completed and inaugurated last year.
Finally, the first phase of the construction of thirty-two (32) state of the art TVET institutions amounting to some $158 million,commenced last year (2022) in nine (9) regions. These infrastructural projects contain industry standard equipment and can be found in all the Technical Universities and selected Technical Institutes across the country.
The Director General also used the opportunity to thank industry players for their support to Government’s reforms so far, and called on them (Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), Federation of Professional Trade Association of Ghana (FEPTAG), Private Enterprise Foundation-PEF, Ghana Employers Association and the individual industries) to continue their support to The Government, The Ministry of Education and the Commission’s vision of transforming Ghana’s Economy through a robust TVET system.
Dr. Asamoah also used the opportunity to draw the attention of all TVET providers and institutions who are yet to be accredited by the Commission that, by law, that is; Section 43 of Act 1023, Education Regulatory Bodies Act,2020 and the Pre-Tertiary Act,2020 (Act 1049), every training institution in the TVET space needed approval from the Commission by way of accreditation to operate. He entreated all those who are yet to comply with this law to contact the Commission for modalities on how they can be registered and accredited.