Positive attitude towards TVET key to industrialisation — Dep. Education Minister
A Deputy Minister of Education, Gifty Twum Ampofo, has stated that for the country to achieve its goal of industrialisation, there is the need to change people’s mindset about Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET).
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She explained that because skilled technical and vocational personnel were essential for the country to industrialise, the notion that such skills were meant for unintelligent persons had to be exterminated so that more students and young people would be eager to acquire the skills.
“It is never true that TVET is only done by unintelligent people because when you see some of the machines and equipment they use, you’ll have to be very smart to learn to operate them,” Mrs Ampofo stressed.
Roundtable
The deputy minister was speaking in Accra yesterday at a roundtable on the Vocational Training for Females (VTF) under TVET organised by a Presbyterian non-governmental organisation (NGO).
The discussion was on the theme: “Beyond the reforms: Gains, Challenges and way forward in Advancing TVET in Ghana”.
It brought together experts, government officials, TVET practitioners, captains of industry and students, among others, to deliberate on issues affecting the sector and provide solutions to inform policy change for the sector’s progress.
As part of the event, an 11-member Advocacy Committee, made up of representatives from institutions with interest in youth development and national socioeconomic transformation, was inaugurated.
The committee will support the work of the programme by acting as the mouthpiece and engage stakeholders, actors and players in the TVET space to articulate the concerns of the sector and jointly address them.
Collaboration
Mrs Ampofo, who is the Deputy Minister in Charge of TVET, cautioned parents against enrolling their children in TVET institutions just because they could not perform in traditional schools.
She also urged factories and the private sector to collaborate with institutions by accommodating students for internships and give them the opportunity to be practical.
“You should view them as free labour who, when trained properly, can add to your output.
They are not there to buy ‘waakye’ for you and to make photocopies,” the Deputy Minister of Education said.
The Deputy Chairperson of the National Labour Commission, Rose Karikari Anang, called on advocacy groups to step up their campaign against the negative mindset about vocational and technical education, saying; “there’s too much quietness on the advocacy front”.
Mrs Anang, who chaired the event, called for the establishment of crash courses for technical and vocational practitioners that would enable them to join the national qualification framework and enable them to boost their confidence.
The Director of VTF Programme, Linda Agyei, said the organisation remained committed to pushing the TVET agenda because it was the master key that could alleviate poverty, promote peace, protect the environment and improve the quality of life.
