Five hundred and five (505) trainee artisans enrolled in the 2021/2022 edition of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation’s (GNPC) Skilled Artisans Project (SAP) in the Ashanti Region have concluded their National Vocational Training Institute’s (NVTI) skill proficiency exams.

The project is organised and funded by GNPC through the GNPC Foundation.

Beneficiary artisans had their competencies tested in various vocational skills categorised under ‘Domestic module’ – cookery, bakery, dressmaking, tailoring, hairdressing, make-up artistry, and interior designing and decoration.

For the ‘Technical module’ - plumbing, carpentry, auto-mechanics, general electrical, and aluminum fabrication are offered.

Taking questions from the media on his visit to the centre at the Kumasi Vocational Training Institute (KVTI) on the final day of examination, the Executive Director of the GNPC Foundation, Dr. Dominic Eduah, said the NVTI certification phase of the project is necessitated by the need to boost their employability and credibility as trained artisans.

He further explained that the SAP as a livelihood empowerment programme is designed to support the youth across the country with the much needed technical and vocational skills that could match up with the best standards across the globe.

He also indicated that the examination will offer young people who are inspired to learn these important trade skills the requisite tools and equipment needed to start their own entrepreneurial businesses in a bid to make them economically independent.

The project, which is being implemented in 5 regions – Western, Central, Greater Accra, Eastern and Ashanti – is seeking to positively affect the lives of some 2,050 artisans with more expected to benefit from other regions in subsequent editions.