Egbert Faibille
THE PETROLEUM Commission has commenced capacity building for some 150 Ghanaians at the Takoradi Technical University’s Jubilee Technical Training Centre.
Chief Executive Officer of the Commission, Egbert Faibille, speaking at an event at Takoradi Technical University (TTU,) said the six-month academic and internship training was under the Accelerated Oil and Gas Capacity Building Programme, (AOGC) aimed at ending the usual denial of Ghanaians petroleum jobs due to lack of appropriate hands-on industry skills.
“This is an excellent initiative which feeds into the government’s overarching agenda to develop the country’s human resource base for increased participation in the oil and gas industry. Many of such initiatives are encouraged in the industry to develop the competencies of Ghanaians and to position them to take up key roles in the industry. By far, this training programme will witness 150 Ghanaian youth selected after sitting for a nationwide aptitude test to train as City & Guilds certified Electrical, Mechanical, Instrumentation and Process Technicians here at the Jubilee Technical Training Centre (JTTC),” he said.
He said the cohort represented the largest number so far to be trained in oil and gas technical fields/areas under the AOGC.
“This six (6) month training programme is sponsored by the government of Ghana through the Petroleum Commission at the cost of nearly $1,000,000, 000,” he said.
Mr Faibille, while commending the Jubilee partners and Takoradi Technical University for its partnership in hosting the training of the 150 beneficiaries, said the Jubilee Technical Training Centre, JTTC, was selected due to its international accreditation status.
He advised the beneficiaries to take the programme seriously since those who excel would be rewarded.
“Subject to the availability of funds, top 10 candidates would be sponsored to pursue Level IV Certification in the UK. Upon completion of the classroom work, trainees will be attached to companies in the petroleum, mining, construction, and manufacturing industries and will be enrolled in their specified area of training to acquire practical skills and experience. The Petroleum Commission will monitor the training periodically to ensure that training is being done to meet the objective and agreement with TTU. After the six-month training, the Commission will place the applicants in the Commission’s Localisation database as qualified technicians and be matched with opportunities that may arise to work as successors to expatriates,“ he added.
Vice-Chancellor of Takoradi Technical University, Rev. Prof. John Frank Eshun, said the six-month training programme which ends on Friday, 11th March 2022, would offer beneficiaries industry-specific certification which re-enforced TTU’s vision of becoming a centre of excellence for TVET.