Vice President Bawumia has identified Technical, Vocational Education and Training (TVET) as one of the key components to stir Ghana’s industrialisation agenda.
He believes it will also ensure decent employment for citizens.
This, he said was part of the reasons the Akufo-Addo-led government has invested huge financial resources in areas of skills training, construction of ultra-modern workshops, training infrastructure, and equipment.
Vice President Bawumia made these remarks when he officially opened the 2021 WorldSkills Ghana National Skills Competition and Second Edition of TVET EXPO in Accra.
With that, he said the Ghanaian youth would receive requisite training in order to become competitive on the global job market.
“A Ghana beyond aid could only be possible when the youth are equipped with competitive global skills and introduced to various skilled careers.
“We’re in the fourth industrial revolution. It is a world of skills, it is not a world of Degrees,”Dr Bawumia stated.
“We have taken a comprehensive approach in revamping and revitalizing TVET education in Ghana and no government has ever invested so much in TVET education than the Akufo-Addo-led government since independence,” the Vice President emphasized.
WorldSkills Ghana National Skills Competition is a platform to provide an opportunity for young people to showcase their professional skills through community projects, skills competitions, and knowledge exchange.
It also deepens stakeholder engagements in the TVET sector and showcases key government achievements, policies, and interventions to improve TVET education in Ghana.
This year’s event is being held on the theme: “Re-imagining Technical and Vocational Education as a tool for Ghana Beyond Aid”, with more than 70 competitors expected to exhibit their skills in 14 different categories.
For sustainable development to take place, the Vice President said, there was an urgent need to pay significant attention to skill training to serve as drivers for economic growth.
It was in that direction that he said the Akufo-Addo-led government sanitized the TVET sector to ensure effective regulation, administration, and promotion of innovation for sustainable development, Dr. Bawumia said.
Additionally, the government enacted the Education Regulatory Bodies’ Act 2020, (Act 1023), which resulted in the merger of the Council for Technical Vocational Education and Training (COTVET) and the National Board for Professional and Technicians Examinations (NAPTES) thus, giving way for the establishment of a Commission for TVET,
Also, there was the passage of an Act for the establishment of Akenten Appiah-Menka University of Skills Training and Entrepreneurial Development as an apex training institution to augment the training of TVET tutors.
Dr Bawumia noted that Sector Skills Bodies were established to focus on exploring business opportunities, innovation and capacity needs of the TVET sector.
Those entities focused on exploring opportunities in areas including ICT, healthcare, pharmacy, and agriculture.
More so, over 65,000 students had also benefited from free TVET education provided under the Free Senior High School (FSHS) policy rolled out by the Akufo-Addo-led government, Dr. Bawumia said.
He added that 32 new TVET institutes- two per region across the 16 regions – penciled down for construction, which was estimated for $500 million to increase access to TVET education.
On his part, Dr Fred Kyei Asamoah, the Director-General of Commission for TVET said TVET education was critical in most thriving economies worldwide therefore it was imperative to equip the Ghanaian youth with employable skills in order to become competitive on the global market.
He lauded the government’s efforts in advancing the cause of TVET education in Ghana towards realizing its industrialization agenda.
By Charles Takyi-Boadu, Presidential Correspondent