Infuse more innovations in TVET education — Panellists
Panellists at a symposium on Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) have advocated for the infusion of more innovations in the teaching and learning of TVET skills.
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That, they said, would not only expand access to TVET education but make teaching more practicable to produce a competent workforce for the country. The panellists are the Acting Vice-Chancellor of the Accra Technical University, Prof. Amevi Acakpovi; the Chairperson, Construction Sector Skills Body, Samuel Amegayibor; and a member of the ICT sector skills body, Lucy Mawutor Adzo Dwomoh.
They were speaking at a symposium organised by the Commission for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (CTVET) on the theme “Advancing TVET and skills development towards sustainable and decent job creation”.
It was organised in partnership with the German Office for International Cooperation in Vocational Education and Training (GOVET) and the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB).
The symposium also saw the launch of the Second Edition of the Ghana TVET Report, as well as the outdooring of a declaration of intent on a corporation in the field of TVET education between the Ministry of Education and Germany’s Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).
Improvement
Ms. Dwomoh said there had been much improvement in the teaching and learning of TVET skills in schools. “Previously, we were writing code and running them on paper but now you get into the classroom and there is software to help write these codes, run them and see the result,” she said.
While commending the government and the commission for the strides made so far in advancing the TVET agenda in the country, she said it was imperative to adopt simulative tools in the virtual teaching of TVET programmes to make them more practical for students to learn at their own pace.
Academia
Prof. Acakpovi said that today, there were myriad innovations introduced into the education sector towards the TVET. He said the introduction of a competency-based training approach would help the TVET sector to train people with relevant industry skills.
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Mr Amegayibor said beyond the registration of businesses, the government should establish business chambers to ensure private sector support.
Potential
In a speech read on his behalf by Professor Mark Adom-Asamoah, the Minister of Education, Dr Osei Adutwum, said to fully capitalise on the potential offered by TVET, the government had made urgent improvements within the TVET institutions and initiated policies as part of its TVET transformation agenda.
The ministry, he said, was in the process of developing new competency-based training curricula, amidst investments in TVET infrastructure and TVET teacher training, among others. In the area of education, he said the government had realigned TVET institutions to the Ministry of Education, coupled with the implementation of the MyTVET campaign to change perceptions about TVET.
As a result of this, he said, during the 2023/2024 academic calendar alone, a total of 60,481 new students had enrolled in various Government TVET institutions which provide free TVET, compared to the less than 20,000 students who enrolled annually before 2017, adding: “With this new enrolment, the total number of enrolments in Government TVET institutions stands at well over 157,681”.
He added that following the successful implementation of the enhancement of the Technical and Vocational Education project by the Austrian Government, an additional amount of 8.3 million Euros had been approved for the provision of new computer, electrical, electronic, building construction and mechanical workshop rehabilitation for some select technical universities.
For his part, the Director-General of CTVET, Dr Fred Kyei Asamoah, said the commission was dedicated to enhancing the quality, access and relevance of TVET in the country.