Dr. Fred Kyei Asamoah, Director of Council for Technical and Vocational Education Training (COTVET), has disclosed that government is committed to create a conducive environment for artisanal businesses to succeed and equip them with requisite skills to meet global standards.
Mr. Asamoah noted that, the Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) was the answer to Ghana’s unemployment situation and the country’s youth unemployment challenge required an all-round, deliberate and consistent response to ensure quality and precision.
He further emphasized the need for apt attention to develop the human capital of the youth, and not just in their employability, in areas such as interpersonal skills, presentation skills, communication skills, leadership skills, analytical skills, basic computer skills and critical thinking skills.
In the course of the last few years, government, Mr. Asamoah noted, had made tremendous strides at improving the TVET sector, notable amongst them being the development and approval for implementation of a five-year strategic plan which had five policy objectives and seventeen strategies.
Government, he stated, has been able to achieve that via the passage of the Education Regulatory Policy Act which also established the Commission for Technical and Vocational Education Regulation through the merging of COTVET and the National Board for Professional Technicians Examinations (NABPTEX).
“We passed the Pre-tertiary Education B into law to establish a Technical and Vocational Education and Training Service that would specifically look at TVET delivery in the Pre-tertiary sector. Government has also developed a National Apprenticeship Policy that would train people in the industry where everybody benefits and quality is also assured”
On his part, Director of Institute (DTI), Mr. Titi Ofei, explained that education was a potent tool and conduit individuals can rise out of poverty and participate fully as citizens of a nation.
The rapid changes occurring in the global economy, Mr. Ofei said, had led to the introduction of new technologies and the demand for more highly skilled workers. With this, Ghana’s education system must be modified to meet the needs and challenges of today, adding that, the skills of yesterday may not be able to fix the problems of tomorrow.
That notwithstanding, he said Ghana has made more provisions to support academic institutions as opposed to technical/vocational institutions and “this must change”.
The President of Artisans Association of Ghana, Mr. Gideon Bidor, said artisan skills such as kente weaving, beads making, basket making, blacksmith, goldsmith, plumbing, should be added to the educational curriculum right from basic school so that children would grow up to create and appreciating technical education.
“Let us encourage those in this field to do it more and not look down on them because they are not formally educated and cannot speak the Queen’s language. One major problem we face is discrimination.
“Artisans are underpaid for their services even though their work is very tedious. This causes great discouragement and as such a person may decide to look for another work and discourage any of his children from venturing into this field”.
