Cape Coast, Oct. 28, GNA - Nana John Boafo, President of the Association of Principals of Technical Institutions (APTI), has said the educational system places too much emphasis on the acquisition of certificates to the neglect of skills training. He appealed to the government to place the Technical, Vocational and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions under the Ministry of Education to ensure smooth policy direction and coordination. Nana Boafo said this at the opening of a one-week conference of the APTI on the theme "quality technical/vocational education and training 'TVET', a prerequisite for Ghana's industrialization and the oil discovery," in Cape Coast.

He said the current situation where the TVET is under the Ghana Education Service could result in conflict of policy direction and that for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to be achieved it would require the training of a skilful manpower.

Nana Boafo said some of the problems facing technical institutions in the country are inadequate and poor laboratory equipment and other infrastructure that "keep deteriorating at a fast rate", as well as an outmoded curriculum for training. He appealed to the government to resource and upgrade vocational and training institutions for the smooth implementation of the TVET. In a speech read for him, Mr. Alex Tettey-Enyo, the Minister of Education, said the economy cannot be productive without the required skilled manpower and that the government considers technical education as very critical in the realization of this goal.

He gave the assurance that the government would resource all technical and vocational institutions and would build one each in every district. The Central Regional Minister, Mrs Ama Benyiwa-Doe, said in a speech read for her that the country had down-played the role of TVET in its development agenda for far too long and that more students must be encouraged to study technical and vocational programmes. 28 Oct 09