Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, Minister of Education, has urged Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions in the country to build innovative and creative mindsets in their students.

He said that would help the students to be creators of electronics and machines, and not just as repairers of machines and equipment.

“Our TVET should be that of innovation. It should be the TVET that does not only teach how to repair cars, but one that will teach you how to create those cars,” he said.

Dr Adutwum said this at the opening plenary of the Association of Technical Universities and Polytechnics in Africa (ATUPA) 2023 Accra International Conference.

The weeklong event organised by the ATUPA and its partners is being held on the theme: “Mainstreaming TVET for Skills Development, Mobility and Resilient Economies in Africa”.

The Conference seeks to bring together TVET stakeholders together to deliberate and strategise on how to improve TVET education in alignment with youth empowerment, job creation and socioeconomic development in Africa.

Dr Adutwum said learners should be taught growth mindset, stressing that the broader educational ecosystem needed to be situated in creativity and innovation.

That, he said, would enable them to understand that they could also create something for themselves as done elsewhere.

The Minister called for adjustments in TVET curriculum to include social subjects such as history, geography, marketing and entrepreneurship.

He said that would bring out innovations that would be in tune with the cultural and geographical needs of people as well as help in marketing and promoting them locally.

Professor Mohammed Belhocine, Commissioner for Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, Africa Union, said TVET should not only be seen as a concept, but as a tool of socioeconomic transformation and empowerment.

He urged the stakeholders to ensure inclusivity in TVET enrollment regardless of gender or social status and address the stereotype that TVET was a secondary choice.