The Director General of the Commission for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) has announced that the Akufo-Addo-led government has bridged the gap between Industry and TVET over the past five years. 

Dr Fred Kyei Asamoah explained that the establishment of Sector Skills Bodies which are made up of industry players and academia and groups of related industries that come together under a common structure to drive growth and competitiveness across the sector by focusing on the exploration of business opportunities, innovation and capacity needs within the sectors had led to bridging the gap in the sector.  

Dr Fred Asamoah made the announcement on Tuesday during a press briefing in Accra.

He described the establishment of the Sector Skills Bodies as crucial since it played a lead role in the development of TVET curriculums and standards generation in the TVET sector.

Again he stated that the government conducting Skills Gap Analysis and Audit for the sector led to the identification of challenges in the sector which have been resolved bringing about the upgrading, restructuring and provision of the needed resources to boost effective teaching and learning in all TVET institutions leading to improved standards within the Competency-Based Training (CBT) Framework. 

The Director General indicated that developing 100 Curriculum or Competency Based Training (CBT) packages from level one (proficiency) to level five (higher national diploma) of the national TVET qualification framework as part of the Ghana Jobs and Skills Project was also part of the reforms being implemented by the Government.  

He mentioned that that was in addition to the already existing 47 curriculums which have already been developed by the Commission since 2017 under the new leadership.

Dr Asamoah further indicated that, although one of the biggest drawbacks to the provision of quality TVET in the past was the poor state of training facilities and equipment and lack of linkage to the industry, the government has the past five years invested massively in the TVET sector to change the story.  

Upgrading and modernization

The Director General said the upgrading and modernization of all the erstwhile 34 National Vocational and Technical Institutes (NVTIs) have been completed and inaugurated.

“We are also constructing 5 new District TVET centres of excellence ongoing with that of Anyinam and Pakyi No. 2 near completion whiles that of Assin Jakai, Manso Abore, and Akomadan at various stages of completion”, he said. 

“The Ghana-China Project for the rehabilitation and upgrading of Technical Universities and Technical Institutes which includes the construction of new workshops/laboratories and supply and installation of equipment fit for disciplines in Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Welding technology, Automotive maintenance, Civil Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering was completed and inaugurated last year”. Dr Asamoah added.

The Director General spoke about the first phase of the construction of 32 state-of-the-art TVET institutions amounting to some $158 million, which commenced last year (2022) in nine regions which has infrastructural projects containing industry-standard equipment and can be found in all the Technical Universities and selected Technical Institutes across the country.

Commendation 

The Director General used the occasion to thank industry players for their support of the Government’s reforms so far and called on them (Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), Federation of Professional Trade Association of Ghana (FEPTAG), Private Enterprise Foundation-PEF, Ghana Employers Association and the individual industries) to continue their support to the Government, through the Ministry of Education and the Commission’s vision of transforming Ghana’s Economy through a robust TVET system.

Dr Asamoah also used the opportunity to draw the attention of all TVET providers and institutions who are yet to be accredited by the Commission that, by law, which is; Section 43 of Act 1023, Education Regulatory Bodies Act,2020 and the Pre-Tertiary Act,2020 (Act 1049), every training institution in the TVET space needed approval from the Commission by way of accreditation to operate and entreated all those who are yet to comply with this law to contact the Commission for modalities on how they can be registered and accredited.