President Akufo-Addo and Prof. Frimpong-Boateng shaking hands after the sod-cutting
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Thursday cut the sod for the commencement of work on the upgrade of the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) system in Ghana.
Cutting the sod on the premises of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) at East Legon, Accra, for work to commence, President Akufo-Addo said the country had not taken advantage to train more people in skills development.
“We shall be able to transform Ghana’s economy and reduce unemployment when we pay attention to technical and vocational training,” he said, adding, “That is where the skills needed for the growth of the modern economy can be developed.”
He said “what I envisage in the technical and vocational education sector would involve a truly radical change in attitude on the part of all of us.”
He said the NPP government is committed to investing heavily in technical education for the country to benefit immensely.
“We have to do everything we can to enhance our self-reliance and capacity to drive our industrial and economic transformation ourselves, and that is the project of Ghana Beyond Aid,” President Akufo-Addo said, adding “that is why we are launching this major project to help emphasize the importance of TVET, and redeem the misconception that technical and vocational education is inferior, and patronized only by less endowed students.”
President Akufo-Addo said the first component of the project comprises refurbishing the existing infrastructure and construction of new infrastructure for the existing 34 NVTI centres; refurbishing the existing infrastructure and construction of a new head office, 10 regional offices and five apprenticeship offices; procurement of equipment for 26 trades and ICT equipment for all 34 NVTI centres.
He also said that competency-based training would cover 700 trainers across 34 NVTIs; course curriculum alignment and content development for the 26 trades; project management: resources and manpower; and transport facilities, i.e. the provision of a 33-seater bus for each of the 34 NVTIs and 4×4 pickups for the head office and regional offices.
The second component of the project, he added, comprises the setting up of two new training centres for foundry and machining workshops, with one at the CSIR centre in Accra, and the other at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology.
He added that it would include building and developing infrastructure for the two new vocational training centres; procurement of equipment, including training equipment for Foundry and ICT equipment; competency-based training for the trainers in these centres; course curriculum alignment and content development; project management: resources and manpower; and transport facilities, i.e. the provision of a 33-seater bus.
The third and final component of this project, President Akufo-Addo indicated, comprises the upgrading of existing Opportunities Industrialization Centres in Greater Accra Region.
“Government believes that this integrated approach will improve the quality of our TVET system across the entire educational system, and result in the empowering of our youth. We must work hard in ensuring that our youth do not see technical and vocational education as a last option, when considering their future,” he said.