The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has held a stakeholders’ meeting at the Kairaba Beach Hotel in Banjul, The Gambia, to validate an action plan to guide countries in implementing Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) to unlock its transformative potential.

The action plan was reviewed and validated as part of a monitoring framework for TVET strategy.

Participants underscored the fact that, TVET is not just about imparting skills; but also about encouraging innovation, creativity and flexibility in the face of a rapidly changing technological environment. Approval of the TVET action plan - a carefully produced document outlining implementation tactics, was the focal point of the meeting held from 19th to 21st September, 2023.

It was the outcome of numerous hours of discussion, research and insight from the group.

In his address, the Executive Director of Africa Education Watch (Eduwatch), Mr. Kofi Asare asserted that “It is important for the ECOWAS Secretariat to provide the necessary policy and institutional reform support to member states in the process of harmonizing TVET governance”.

He also called for a similar support from ECOWAS and the African Union (AU) towards the full operationalization of a National TVET Qualification Framework in member states, to ensure that national frameworks are aligned with the AU’s continental TVET qualification framework.

In attendance were ten ECOWAS states; Ghana, Nigeria, Togo, Benin, Ivory Coast, Cape Verde, Sierra Leone, Liberia, the Gambia and Guinea Bissau.

Delegates from United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Foundation for Security Development in Africa (FOSDA), Oxford Committee for Famine Relief (OXFAM) and Eduwatch were present at the meeting as part of policy makers, educators and industry leaders poised to validate the innovative TVET action plan.