The Council for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (COTVET) would from 2011 standardize all qualification and training of Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) in the country. This would enable people under TVET to progress through the qualification system without necessarily going through the academic system as it currently stands. Mr Sampson Damptey Tetey, Competency Based Trainig (CBT) Co-ordinator of COTVET, disclosed this on Friday at the closing ceremony of a 10-day training course for 200 master crafts persons. The course was under the theme; "Training of Master Crafts Persons in Garment Making on Competency Based Training," and funded by DANIDA. Participants were drawn from the Ghana National Tailors and Dressmakers Association, National Cooperative Fashion Designers and Association of Fashion Designers. Mr Tetey explained that currently, there was no qualification framework for TVET leading to its members being disadvantaged as there was no uniform certification. He added that under the CBT-TVET, all technical and vocational training centres, both formal and non-formal, would have to register and be accredited by COTVET to be provided with the standardized course outline. He stated that the framework, which would be a national policy, was being developed on the recommendations of the 2007 Educational Reform. He noted that under the new demand driven system, persons would have nine levels starting from proficiency one to Doctor of Technology (DTEC) level. Mr Tetey called on parents and students to discard the perception that technical and vocational training were for people who were academically challenged. He said people must rather recognize that TVET gave people the option of being self equipped and employed. He added that government must strengthen the technical and vocational industry as that was the only way Ghana could reach a middle-income status. Mr Tetey indicated that TVET prepared people competently to fill the country's industries and therefore urged government to pay more attention to it. He appealed to the government to find an appropriate way of sustaining the Skill Development Fund (SDF) of COTVET to enable it to train more people. He said the need for such sustainability could not be overemphasized as he feared the Fund could collapse if its donor support seized. On the training course, he said participants of the first phase of the course in April this year, were taken through specialized training in garment making. Some of the topics treated were; tools, equipments, fabrics, basic sewing techniques, basic garment construction and health, safety and security. He entreated participants to pass on the knowledge they had acquired to their apprentices and colleagues. Source: GNA