College of Technology runs competency programme for students
The College of Technology Education in Kumasi is running a pilot programme in Competency-Based Training (CBT) for students offering Diploma and Master’s courses.
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The programme is being undertaken as a result of the efforts of the hard-working staff of the College of Education, Kumasi, in collaboration with the Council for Technical Vocational Education and Training (COTVET) and the African Development Bank (AFDB), through the Project Support Unit (PSU).
Among other benefits, the programme is expected to enable teachers to be involved in team work, and a mutual process approach to learning and skills development.
At an orientation for the first batch of fresh students on the Diploma in Education, CBT option programme held in Kumasi, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Education, Winneba, Professor Akwasi Asabere Ameyaw, said the training had been adjudged the best form of flexible approach in imparting knowledge and skills in the training circles.
He said it was time teachers demonstrated the skills required for the world of work, pointing out that piloting the CBT was the opportune time for teachers to move out of their classrooms and laboratories into the world of work where they could develop real skills required for industries and commerce.
CBT initiative
Prof. Ameyaw said the new paradigm shift involved the training of 150 instructors for technical institutes (TIs) within 12 months, adding that 20 faculty members would be trained to the master’s level within 24 months and five faculty members would also be trained to the PhD level within 48 months.
The approach, he said, would support many instructors for technical institutes, both private and public, who lacked teachers with tutorial skills to train Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) teachers.
Currently, he said the university required a number of TVET experts and researchers to pursue its mandate effectively and added that the authorities would nurture the noble vision to solve educational problems in Ghana.
Modern education
In his address, the Principal of the College of Technology Education, Kumasi (COLTEK), Professor Reynolds Okai said the initiative was a shift in modern education and training towards competency-based learning to cope with the fast technological and societal changes.
As part of measures to review TVET, he said the government secured funding from the AfDB towards the implementation of the development skills for industry project (DSIP), which aims at enhancing the quality of human and institutional capacity of TVET teaching and learning to raise the theoretical and practical research competencies of technical teachers.
He explained that COTVET identified and selected COLTEK as the most suitable tertiary institution to execute the CBT programme under the DSIP.
Prof. Okai urged all stakeholders to contribute to the mission of improving TVET educational programmes, adding that the programme would sharpen the knowledge and competencies of technical and vocational teachers to develop synergy for improving TVET education.
