Vocational and technical education prepares manpower for development

Kumasi, Aug.15, GNA - Reverend Samuel Kwabena Asamoah, Principal of Ramseyer Vocational and Technical Institute (RVTI) has observed that Vocational and Technical Education (VOTECH) have been designed to prepare manpower for sustainable national development. He explained that VOTECH provided employable skills to reduce poverty, helped to apply acquired knowledge and skills for scientific and technological development and advancement of the nation. "In view of this, VOTECH is restructured so that graduates can enter into tertiary institutions if they so wish. The curriculum is designed to give equal opportunities and recognition to all courses at all levels. Core subjects are made integral and examinable," he added. Rev. Asamoah was presenting the 2011 report of the Institute at its eighth graduation of 76 students after four years training in catering, fashion and design, block-laying, concreting and electrical installation at Chirapatre in Kumasi.

It is a Christian institution established by the Ramseyer Memorial Congregation of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG) in 1976 to help the youth with employable skills and train them with the requisite practical vocational technical skills. The institute has over the years trained more than 5,000 young men and women in employable skills and in partnership with Kassel-Christian Education Fund in Germany continued to donate tools for final year students to establish their own businesses as well as training programmes.

Rev. Asamoah announced that the management had instituted Tracer Study conducted to find the employment status of past graduates, successes and challenges confronting them.

He appealed for financial and material assistance for additional classrooms and workshops, means of transport, library books as well as the construction of a fence to ward-off encroachers. Rev Asamoah urged the graduates to make good use of the free tools given to them to aid the application of their trade. Mrs Martha Danso, Senior Lecturer, College of Technology Education, University of Education, Winneba, asked Ghanaians to change their negative perception about technical and vocational education, seen by many as the preserve of weak students.

She said this was necessary if the country was to make headway in the fight to reduce unemployment, particularly among the youth. Mrs Danso was speaking on the topic: 93Prospects of vocational and technical training in the new Educational Act: The way forward", at the ceremony.

She noted that the progress of every nation, to a large extent, depended on the development of these sectors. Mrs Danso advised the graduating students to desist from the use of cheap and inferior materials for their work, telling them that, resorting to the use of crude and dubious means to make money would simply not do.

They should adopt best business practices and use simple mathematical calculations to aid their monetary transactions. Nana Obibuo Addai-Yeboah Santamire II, Asantehene's Kentehene and a Former University Lecturer, said Africa was lagging behind in development because of her lackadaisical attitude towards vocational and technical education.