Young girls and women have been urged to embrace Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) to improve their livelihoods.

At an event organised by the Design and Technology Institute (DTI) as part of activities to mark this year’s International Women’s Day (IWD) celebration, participants were educated on the need to embrace TVET as a source of employment and help eliminate gender disparities between men and women in TVET in Ghana.

The event which was under the theme “Advancing the role of women; Agents of change in the society” was aimed at creating awareness, sensitising the public and providing interventions to eliminate the socio-economic disparities between men and women in Ghana and Africa as a whole.

CEO of Stratcomm Africa, Ms. Esther Cobbah said “change is a variable that is inevitable in every society.”

She, therefore, encouraged the young girls and women to pay attention to their environment, be receptive and adaptive, and work to resolve challenges that may negatively affect them due to change.

“Women need to be aware of the change and identify the opportunities that they present. Women that think and prepare for change, and have it engraved in their mind, survive best,” she stated.

Vice Principal for Administration of the Tema Technical Institute, Ms. Vivian Glante, who spoke on the topic “The Disturbing Reality of Youth Unemployment; Girls in TVET, a Panacea to Youth Unemployment”, noted that women have been key figures in creating sustainable jobs in our social and economic contexts.

“People with vocational skills will lead the industrialised future, and young girls and women will be instrumental to bridging the skills and manpower gap required. There is, therefore, the need for TVET institutions to have a clear gender parity admission policy in place to create a diverse, equitable and inclusive learning environment,” she added.

Founder and CEO of DTI, Ms. Constance Elizabeth Swaniker said the event is a major step to ensure that we break the bias against girls and women whiles bridging the gender gap in TVET and sustainable job creation in the country.

“We can contribute to creating sustainable jobs for Ghanaians if heads of TVET institutions continue to work to create the enabling environment that will help young girls and women to enrol and thrive in TVET programmes, gain employable skills and establish thriving businesses to support Ghana’s economic growth.”

“Men and boys are integral to the gender conversation because they are also affected by cultural values and traditions as women. Therefore, involving men is crucial in all initiatives for gender equality and women empowerment,” she said.

The event forms part of DTI’s partnership with the Mastercard Foundation under the “Young Africa Works Strategy” to empower and create access for young girls by admitting 30 percent through the gender parity admission policy per cohort.

The school currently has a total student population of 112 with 34 being girls.

This year’s event was attended by students from Soronko Academy, Presbyterian Boys Secondary School, Tema Secondary School and provided the platform to share and showcase the work of DTI to the participants, who gained valuable insight from seasoned women in business and academia on how to leverage TVET to create sustainable jobs for the teeming unemployed youth.