Albert Opare with some of the participants
The Akufo-Addo-led government is set to provide free training for about 50,000 master craftsmen and apprentices to upgrade their skills under the ongoing Ghana Jobs and Skills Project being implemented by the Commission for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (CTVET).
This project, which kickstarted officially sometime last year, is expected to be completed in 2026 as part of efforts to boost Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in the country.
The Head of Corporate Affairs of CTVET, Albert Opare, revealed this at a sensitisation workshop which was organised to create awareness about the National Apprenticeship Policy and the National Apprenticeship Programme at the Koforidua Technical University.
According to Mr. Opare, TVET is an important key to making Ghana a skilled nation. Thus, CTVET is taking steps to encourage all TVET stakeholders to be guided by the National Apprenticeship Policy as steps are being taken to start rolling the free apprenticeship training.
The National Apprenticeship Policy aligns with the wider policy framework of the Education Strategic Plan 2018-2030 and the Strategic Plan for TVET Transformation 2018-2022 which supports competency-based skills development in TVET.
Mr. Opare also said that the Ghana Jobs and Skills Project is a 200 million dollar Government of Ghana project which seeks to support skills development and job creation across the country through apprenticeship training for jobs, entrepreneurship and small enterprise support, and operationalisation of Ghana Labour Market Information System.
He said, “The Ghana Jobs and Skills Project (GJSP) would provide at least 199,500 to 252,000 jobs. US $200 million was raised through a financing agreement between the Government of Ghana and the International Development Association (IDA)/ World Bank Group.”
The objective of the project was to facilitate the socio-economic development of the country through improved support for skills development and job creation across the country.
The project comprises multiple activities that promote the employment and productivity of workers, as well as initiatives to strengthen the efficiency and capacity of government agencies for the various activities to be implemented under the project.
BY Daniel Bampoe