Technical and vocational education to be rebranded for industrialisation

Technical and vocational education in the country is to be rebranded to champion Ghana’s industrialisation.

Executive Director of the Council For Technical and Vocational Education and Training (COTVET) Dr. Fred Kyei, who said this explained such a move would ensure demand driven training to bridge the gap between education and industry.

In an interview with 3FM, Dr. Fred Kyei indicated his outfit has developed a strategy for the re-branding through massive educational campaign to make it attractive and a preferred choice.

“Without technical education there is no way the country can progress to the industrialized status we desire.

That is why the President is re-aligning all technical and vocational institutions under one Ministry so there can be better coordination.

“It is also aimed at ensuring that training provided graduates have standards that are bench marked, international and are tailored made for industrial needs.

The training is also targeted at local industries to migrate to move to the next level,” Dr Kyei said on the sidelines of the Australian Education Fair in Accra.

He indicated that as part of their programme, technical and vocational education was going to be re-branded with massive educational campaign to re-orient society.

“We want to get to the point where technical and vocational education is the first option for students and parents will also be convinced that is the best choice.In the past people thought if you chose that path, you get stuck with a very low certificate’.

The Executive Director explained the framework was innovative and progressive, saying

“…our framework makes it progressive with 8 levels. “There is proficiency one and two, which lead to certificate one and two, then the Higher National Diploma. You could progress to the degree masters and PHD. So as a country, we should all re-align ourselves”.

There have been calls for the Ghanaian Technical Educational Curriculum to be fine-tuned to reflect the need for industry to ensure employable skills for trainees.

It has also been argued that the country can only progress to attain industrialization status if technical and vocational training is not relegated to the background or seen as a programme for school drop-outs.