Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia
All seem set for the implementation of the much-awaited free Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programme next year.
Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia dropped the hint at the lunch of the TVET Services in Accra yesterday.
Speaking at the well-attended event, Dr. Bawumia announced that “as part of implementing the TVET agenda, the government is establishing the first ever second cycle Applied Technical High School across the country.”
Programmes to be offered at the Applied Technical High School are expected to be designed as a career-based technical education which integrates career and technical education with a rigorous academic core and industry participation.
This, according to the Vice President would be benchmarked against international best practices and standards.
“Most importantly, the Applied Technical High Schools will build strategic alliances with community, industry, development partners and Government, to ensure that it is responsive to the national needs and expectations for socioeconomic transformation,” he emphasised.
Government, he said has already designated four new TVET institutions across the country for this programme.
So far, all TVET Institutions which are now captured under the Ghana TVET Service, are included in the next academic year’s (February 2022) Computerized School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) for selection by the Junior High School graduates to enjoy the Government’s flagship programme “FREE TVET/SHS FOR ALL”.
There is also the opportunity for those who complete their TVET programmes to continue from the National Proficiency levels through Certificate levels to HND, B.TECH, M.TECH to the Doctor of Technology level with the National TVET Qualifications Framework (NTVETQF), which the Commission is implementing for TVET.
The Ministry of Education is said to have made significant progress with teacher professionalism to conform with global education standards.
Vice President Bawumia therefore, urged parents of JHS graduates to counsel their wards to consider choosing TVET programmes since these programmes are designed to equip SHS leavers with practical skills needed for the job market.
On her part, Director General of the Ghana TVET Services, Mawusi Nudekor Awity indicated that they we have successfully migrated all 139 new TVET schools unto the Computerized School Selection and Placement System.
With that, she said “successful candidates have now been given a bigger opportunity to see their TVET dream come true. We have organized community sensitizations and stakeholder meetings to encourage more young people to choose TVET schools.”
She pledged their unflinching dedication to deliver on their mandate and produce a world class TVET Service.
“Our graduates will be exceptional, we will restore hope to those who have given up. The Ghanaian youth will want to learn a skill again, self-employment will eradicate unemployment, TVET institutions will be full again, our Technical Universities will be flooded with applicants who want to offer technical and vocational courses, TVET will no longer be seen as an option for unintelligent and deviant people in society.
TVET will be the main stay of education in Ghana”, she said.
She continued “we are poised to show the world, that this new revolution is not a mere change in nomenclature, but a promise to deliver and leave an indelible mark on the walls of Ghana’s history.
We aim to strategically position the Service to be the benchmark of quality public service delivery”, Mawusi assured.
By Charles Takyi-Boadu