Establish ministry for technical, vocational education
The President of the Institution of Engineering and Technology, Ghana (IET), Reverend Dr Eric Ankrah, has called on the government to establish a ministry responsible for technical and vocational education in the country.
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He said currently, technical and vocational institutions were operating under various ministries such as the Local and Rural Development, Employment and Social Welfare, Youth and Sports and Education, making it difficult for effective supervision and control, thereby, “undermining the effectiveness of such institutions.”
The president noted that with the establishment of such a ministry, coupled with additional budgetary allocation and investments, vocational education in the country would become attractive and effective which would go a long way to create jobs for the teeming unemployed youth.
Rev. Dr Eric Ankrah was speaking at the IET’s biennial congress and general meeting in Accra last Saturday.
The event, which was also used to induct 110 engineers into the institution, was on the theme: “Alternate source of energy in the midst of energy drought: the application of solar energy.”
Speaking on the current power crisis in the country, Rev. Dr Eric Ankrah called on other professional bodies to come together to help find lasting solution to the problem.
“The issue of dumsor, which seems to be the present challenge, falls on scientists, engineers and technologists to find a solution.
Solar energy
He further underscored the need for the government to provide a conducive environment for businesses to invest in solar energy projects because according to him, such projects were crucial in the country’s quest to improve its power capacity. “Solar is cost effective over the long term, but it requires huge investments, therefore, investors into such projects must be protected and given the necessary incentives to operate effectively,” the president further indicated.
In a speech read on his behalf, the Minister of Power, Dr Kwabena Donkor, said solar energy and other renewable sources of energy were very important because they had the potential to augment the country’s generation capacity.
Research
Professor Paul Kingsley Buah-Bussuah, a renowned physicist, bemoaned the lack of investment into the research of solar and other renewable forms of energy in the country.