Dr Afeti outlines measures to transform TVET in new book
A BOOK that seeks to break down and create a better understanding of Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) as a credible education track for building human capital for national development has been launched in Accra.
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The book, titled "Understanding TVET in Africa", systematically lays out strategies and policy actions that need to be implemented by key stakeholders, government and industry to derive the full socio-economic benefits of investing in TVET.
Furthermore, it attempts to correct the misconception that misrepresents TVET as a learning pathway for the academically less endowed.
The 261-page book was authored by a TVET expert and consultant, Dr George Afeti.
The literary piece, which took seven years (2015 to 2022) to author, is a compilation of selected journal articles on TVET and public lectures delivered by the author in several African countries on a variety of topics.
The foreword of the book was written by the Director-General of the Commission for TVET, Dr Fred Kyei Asamoah, who said that because there had been a continent-wide paradigm shift towards skills development in the last decade, the book had come at an opportune time to bring greater clarity on TVET as a vehicle for equipping young people with the skills they need to contribute to the socioeconomic development of their countries.
Masterpiece
In his review, a retired Justice of the Supreme Court, Victor Jones Mawulom Dotse, described the book as a masterpiece that went beyond the bare text of the subject matter by providing cutting-edge statistics and verifiable examples from Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania, Kenya and South Africa, among other countries.
Furthermore, Justice Dotse said the author had performed an invaluable service to education policymakers because he solved, with remarkable ease, the problems associated with TVET in the country and on the continent as a whole.
He, therefore, recommended the book to all policymakers on education and heads of schools at all levels; basic, intermediate, higher, tertiary and post-tertiary, adding that it provided the blueprint for political, policy and educational leaders to draw lessons in solving the critical shortage of the required technical manpower.
Investment
In an interview with the Daily Graphic, Dr Afeti, who is a former Secretary General of the Commonwealth Association of Technical Universities and Polytechnics in Africa, opined that though TVET was a lot more expensive compared to mainstream education, due to the high amount of consumables needed, policymakers should view its adequate funding as an investment for the future development of the country.
That, he said, was because it had been proven that any nation with a highly skilled labour force was able to leapfrog in socioeconomic development, citing countries such as South Korea, Japan, China and Rwanda to buttress his point.
“People have heard enough about how TVET is not for the less academically endowed and whatnot.
It is time to show people what TVET has actually done and is capable of doing, to change mindsets,” the former Principal of Ho Technical University, who served for 13 years, added.
