THE government has launched a process to revamp production units within technical institutions to position such units to become business centres where students can produce marketable products for sale.
The two-year project, which falls under the Development of Skills for Industry Project (DSIP), is being managed by the Project Support Unit (PSU) of the Council for Technical and Vocational Education Training (COTVET). It is a $1.6 million facility from the African Development Bank (AfDB).
Selected institutions
The project is designed for 10 public technical vocational educational and training (TVET) institutions and would offer such institutions the opportunity to compete for investment grants provided by the government to revitalise and or set up production units in order to promote innovation.
The 10 selected technical institutions include the Ada, Akwatia, Amankwakrom , Asuansi and Bolga Technical institutes. The rest are Kpando, Krobea Asante, Nkoranza, Dabokpa and Wa Technical institutes.
The Executive Director of COTVET, Mr Sebastian Deh, pointed out that the project would offer assistance to the institutions to undertake approved skills development projects and also support the production units which would form the basis for workplace experience learning and generation of additional income for the institutions.
Production equipment
He pointed out that the grant would also be used for the purchase of production equipment and tools, as well as for the procurement of inputs for production.
The Head of COTVET/PSU, Mr Matthew Dally, said the COTVET/PSU would collaborate with the TVET Directorate of the Ghana Education Service (GES), professional trade associations, Institute of Engineers, Association of Polytechnics and Technical Institutions and school management committees of the technical institutes for the successful implementation of the scheme.
COTVET/PSU
He said the COTVET/PSU would take the necessary measures to ensure that the grant would help the institutes eventually undertake activities to raise internally generated funds to sustain their activities for the continuous improvement of the projects.
