All is set for the construction of 32 state-of-the-art Technical Vocational Education Training (TVET) institutions across the country, the Minister of Education, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, has announced.
According to him, the feasibility studies for the projects had been completed and the needed funding secured.
“The feasibility studies for these have been completed, funding proposals have been received and approval has been sought from the Public Procurement Authority for procurement to commence,” he explained.
Dr Prempeh disclosed this when he officially opened the Innovation Africa Summit currently ongoing in Accra.
The summit which is being held in Ghana for the first time is the ninth in the series and was fast establishing itself as the number one high level Information, Communications and Technology (ICT) forum on the continent.
Participating in this years’ event are industry partners in Information and Communication Technology (ICT), senior government officials and education experts from more than 40 countries in Africa.
Dr Prempeh said government recognised the important role of TVET in the industrialisation agenda of the country; as a result it had taken several steps towards mainstreaming it to make it an option of first and not last resort for young people seeking a career.
He said currently, there were over 400 public sector TVET institutions scattered under 19 Ministries in the country and these were being aligned under the Ministry of Education to ensure standardisation of certificate.
“A pre-tertiary Education Bill that mandates the creation of a TVET Service, with its own Director-General, has been laid before Parliament.
We have also developed a Competency Based Training (CBT) curriculum for trade areas and have accredited 76 institutions to run CBT programmes,” he emphasised.
He said a university solely dedicated to the training of teachers for TVET was being set up, stressing that “In addition to this, development is underway for eight technical universities, two polytechnics and 13 technical institutes, whilst 35 National Vocational and Technical Institutions (NVTIs) are being expanded and upgraded across the country.”
The Minister assured that Ghana would continue to invest in the education of her children to make them competitive, skilled global citizens and equip them with the right skills to secure the country’s future.
Touching on the summit, he said technology and innovation sat at the centre of the continents transformation agenda and the gathering in Accra presented the opportunity for participants to discuss the way forward.
“We cannot however make any progress without an agenda that has skills development at its core and is financed by us as Africans. The African Union through the Association for the Development of Education Fund to facilitate the skills needed for our industrialisation,” he said.
In line with this, he explained that there was the need to mobilise resources to support this endeavour, adding that “Ghana has pledged USD2 million to the Africa Education Fund. I call on all of us to show our commitment to the fund to own our industrial and economic transformation.”
According to him, this was the time for African countries to accelerate their socio-economic transformation by developing skilled professionals in applied sciences, engineering and technology.
By Cliff Ekuful
Picture by Ebo Gorman
