Upgrade skills in TVET - Young women advised
Panellists at a Women in Technical, Vocational and Education Training (TVET) Conference 2024 have called on young girls and women in the technical industry to prioritise upgrading their skills to remain relevant in the industry.
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They also called on the government to increase budget allocation on TVET, to encourage more women to venture and remain in the traditionally male dominated industry.
The panellists were an engineer, Madina Adams, a Beauty and Wellness specialist, Michelle Dassah, a Welder; Joyce Awuitor Asamoah, and an engineering trainee; Constance Sogar.
They made this known when the Commission for Technical, Vocational and Education Training (CTEVT) joined the world to mark the International Women’s Day in Accra recently.
The event was on the theme: “Harnessing Innovation and Technology to create opportunities for women in TVET”.
Panellists
Ms Dassah indicated that some women were exporting 40 footer containers of shea butter daily, calling for such success stories to be told. She, however, encouraged women in businesses to ensure that their product met required standards so as to take advantage of the international market.
Mrs Adams, for her part, called for training centres to be equipped with more state-of-the-art equipment, while intensifying collaboration between the centres and the technical industry.
Mrs Asamoah, on the other hand, mentioned the lucrative welding industry, stating that one could earn $500 dollars a day with the necessary skills. Ms Sogar encouraged young women to stay focused when under training and constantly develop their skills.
Venture into TVET
The Director General of CTVET, Dr Fred Kyei Asamoah, encouraged young girls to venture into the TVET to benefit from the numerous opportunities in the technical industry. He explained that although acquiring technical skills was in the right direction, skills development and career advancement was crucial in the current technological era.
He said the CTVET has honoured the majority of women who were contributing to TVET and positively impacting the country’s economy. He, however, called on the public to desist from looking down on women in TVET, but rather encourage them to build careers in them.
Policy
A Senior Lecturer, Sociology and Gender Studies at the University of Business and Integrated Development Studies (SDD UBIDS), Dr Constance Awinpoka Akurugu, in a presentation, called on policy makers to develop policies to break discrimination against women in the industry.
She also called for a sustained awareness creation of technical skills among women, adding that there was the need for intense advocacy for the active implementation of the Labour Act.
Dr Akurugu was speaking on the topic “Understanding the barriers to women’s participation in traditionally male-dominated industrial roles: toward their sustainable involvement in Northern Ghana.
Metal fabrication lucrative
A Team Lead at Selo Art group, Selorm Alfred Betepe, who also spoke on the topic ‘Harnessing opportunities in metal and Fabrication industry for women and girls in TVET’, stressed the viable and lucrative nature of the metal and steel fabrication industry, adding that technology has also made it easy as there were machines available to facilitate metal fabrication.
Mr Betepe encouraged women to pursue further education in steel fabrication to gain certification in areas such as project management, quality control or even become business owners.
