The Ghana Apprenticeship Programme (GAP), launched by Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia in March 2024, has achieved a significant milestone with 10,708 beneficiaries enrolled to date.
This exceeds initial expectations and demonstrates the programme’s potential to transform the country’s apprenticeship system.
According to Dr. Fred Kyei Asamoah, Director General of the Commission for TVET, the programme aims to equip apprentices with practical, industry-relevant skills, enhancing their employability and contributing to the competitiveness of the Ghanaian workforce.
GAP has received funding from the Government of Ghana, the World Bank, and the German Government through KFW Development Bank, with a target to train at least 20,000 beneficiaries by the end of December 2025.
The programme’s success is part of a broader investment in Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET), with over GHC 6 billion allocated to TVET infrastructure and equipment, and hundreds of millions of cedis dedicated to Free TVET.
This investment has led to a significant increase in TVET enrollment, from less than 60,000 in 2016 to over 157,000 in 2023, the largest investment in TVET by any government since independence.
Dr. Asamoah emphasized that GAP is designed to bridge the gap between traditional apprenticeship systems and modern employment requirements, providing apprenticeship training tailored to contemporary job demands.
With its focus on Competency-Based Training (CBT), GAP is poised to make a lasting impact on Ghana’s workforce development.
-BY Daniel Bampoe