Poks Vocational Training Institute has bemoaned lack of access to flexible loans and other forms of funding for trainees and entrepreneurs who have invaluable skills and ready to add to Ghana’s lot.

Chief Executive Officer of the Institute, Rawlene Abena Pokua fears the situation could derail the country’s attempt to get the youth into vocational training instead of just relying on grammar schools as the only source of learning.

The unhappy CEO was speaking to Joy Business after the Institute’s 3^rd graduation at Ashaiman in the Greater Accra region.

“When you go to the bank for loan, the interest is quite high aside a cumbersome process one has to go through”

“Government must come to the aid of entrepreneurs like us by way of flexible loans to purchase machines and other equipment we need for production and business in general,” she appealed. 

Abena Pokua who has been in fashion for well over two decades and trained more than 300 people said, sheer resilience has kept her going despite all the financial challenges encountered.

“A lot of people literally abandon this dream along the way due to lack of support from government or any other source,”

“For instance, the days of using hand machine is long gone but being honest, how many people can afford electrical or industrial machine?” Pokua quizzed. 

For entrepreneurs like Pokua and others with interest in vocational training, the country’s goal of reaping from the area could be mere rhetoric if impediments including finance are put in the way of people with skills.

The graduants then displayed their creativity through various outfits including wedding gown infusing African print.

Before receiving their certificates, the institute handed to the 24 graduants a pair of scissors, tape measure, pins, hand needle, seam ripper and tailor’s chalk.

Member of Parliament for Ashaiman Constituency, Ernest Norgbey, added his voice to the call for government to create an enabling environment for the teeming youth considering the unemployment situation. 

According to him, individuals including himself are training the youth in vocations to augment government’s effort.

“I instituted beads making, baking, dressmaking and so on in the name of giving the youth some source of livelihood but that is not enough. So having the likes of Poks Vocational Training Institute around, I have to help them as an MP.

Mr. Norgbey called on government to prioritise Technical and Vocational Education and Training(TVET) by making it free instead of Senior High School(SHS).

“If I were the president, I would rather introduce Free TVET and not Free SHS, because those trained under the former have jobs after the training unlike the latter who would have to further at the university subject to one’s pocket,” he urged.

He however doubts if the current administration really has TVET at heart.

The MP chipped in a Free TVET policy which the National Democratic Congress would have introduced had it won the 2020 general elections. 

As part of his commitment to equipping those in vocational training, the MP gave 10 sewing machines to Poks vocational Training Institute.

Additional five machines were to be given to the best five among the graduants.

Meanwhile, Rosemary Agbesi who emerged as the overall best student was to walk home with an electrical sewing machine.

She pleaded with government to help students who want to enroll in such institutions with the needed financial support.

She encouraged the youth to take vocational training as important as enrolling at any tertiary institution.

As part of creating enabling environment, the Ghana Enterprises Agency said it is migrating all apprentices to entrepreneurs under the Apprentice to Entrepreneurs (A2E) programme.

The programme will come with different business development supports in the area of technical, management and entrepreneurship training as well as linking them to sources of funding to run their businesses.

Representatives from Ashaiman Municipal Assembly, traditional authorities, families of the graduants among others were present to support them.