57 Artisans inducted into Institution of Engineering
The Ghana Institution of Engineering (GhIE) has for the first time in its history, licensed and inducted 57 professional artisans into the institution.
Engaged in mechanical, agriculture, arts and electrical/electronics practice, the now professional craftsmen would have their names in the GhIE’s Craftsmen Register.
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Their licensing and induction were made possible after they went through rigorous training and met the minimum academic experience requirements under the Professionalisation of Artisans (ProfArts) projects of the Engineering Council.
Their induction was held at the Engineers Centre in Accra last Monday, as part of GhIE Annual Conference and Engineering week celebration ongoing in Accra.
Big deal
At the event, the President of the GhIE, Prof. Charles Anum Adams, told the inductees that “today is a very important milestone in your career where you are being admitted into a professional association and your names are being entered into the licensing register as professional craftsmen. It is a big deal and you have every reason to be glad”.
The GhIE President said his institution envisaged to bring on board over 2,000 craftsmen into the institution before the end of his tenure.
He therefore called on the government to set up a professional apprenticeship scheme as a healthy job creation strategy for the youth in professional trades which had future relevance.
Opportunity taken
The Executive Director of the GhIE, David Nyante, said a few years ago, the institution embraced all engineering practitioners (craftsmen, technicians, technologists and engineers), thus changing the name from the Ghana Institution of Engineers to the Ghana Institution of Engineering, and thereby leaving no engineering practitioner behind in the professionalisation of the practice of engineering.
He explained that the induction was possible because the artisans took the opportunity offered by GhIE partners, (Invest for Jobs of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and its implemented partners, GIZ GmbH, Vodafone Ghana, Robert Bosch Ghana, the Consolidated Bank Ghana and UVEX Arbeitsschutz GmbH, whose joint efforts have been the successful implementation of the first phase of the ProfArts Project to professionalise and being inducted as craftsmen of the Ghana Institution of Engineering.
Improving employment
The Chairman of the Membership Committee of GhIE, Dr Patrick A. Bekoe, explained that a total of 57 candidates demonstrated exceptional abilities in their training.
In his remarks, the Team Leader of Invest for Jobs at GIZ-Ghana, John Duti, explained that the ProfArts project was intended to improve the employment situation of local artisans and micro-enterprises in the construction sector and the associated value chain, through technical skill upgrade training, business skills training, tool training, financial literacy training and licensing under the Ghanaians craftsmen register of the Ghana Institution of Engineering.
The Director-General of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), Mawusi Nudekor Awity, expressed delight and appreciation to GhIE and its partners for the initiative of bringing all artisans under the umbrella of the GhIE.
She assured the institution of her office’s full support to the programme, because it falls directly in line with TVET mandate to equip people with the technical and professional skills needed for socio-economic and industrial development of the country.
The Special Guest, Richard Adarkwah, who is also a craftsman, he advised the newly inducted professional artisans to let their works speak for them.
In a related development, the GhIE has also inducted 130 engineers into the Institution at a ceremony in Accra.
The President of GhIE, who administered the Engineering Pledge to the inductees, charged them to be good ambassadors of the Institution by discharging their duties in honesty and fairness.
