Government supports National Apprenticeship Programme
Mr Lee Ocran Minister of Education has said that it was high time society put a bigger premium on technical and vocational education and training through better employment, higher earnings, prestige and respect.
He said the misconceived notion that technical and vocational training was meant for the so called drop outs, which had lead to society putting less premium on the technical and vocational training must be stopped.
“The irony of the situation is that our daily lives were completely dependent on technicians and artisans”.
Mr Ocran made this observation when he presented tools and equipments worth GHc10 million to all the ten Regional Ministers to support the National Apprenticeship Programme, on Tuesday, in Accra.
The equipments include 160 each of sewing machines, over lock Sewing machines, Scissors, Sewing Machine motors, and foot pedal, 144 each of standing dryer, hand dryer, curling tong, manikins and sets of rollers and pins.
It also include 96 each of AC and DC welding transformers, welding helmet, soft guard head safety goggles, leather gloves, aprons and shipping hammers, 104 each of bricklayers trowel hit, spirit level, head pans, shovels, spade, tapes, sledge hammers, metal straight edge, smoothing and rough plane, universal cross saw, claw hammer, screw drivers, pincers, steel tape and wood chisels.
He said statistics indicate that about 40 percent of graduates from Junior High Schools were unable to enter Senior High Schools, and out of this only 5 percent continue in formal technical and vocational education and training, while majority of them go into apprenticeship in various trade areas in the informal sector.
He noted that government initiated the NAP as an effort to support the informal sector to provide relevant skills for industrial and economic development, improve access equity and employability and quality.
“Last year five thousand Ghanaian youth benefited from the programme, and were trained in garment making, cosmetology, electronics, auto mechanics and welding and fabrication. But this year with financing from the GETFUND, the programme has been extended to benefit eight thousand youth, with the inclusion of trade areas like ICT, building and construction, and carpentry and joinery.
“Our country is one that has large youth demography and the welfare of the youth, is at the centre of government agenda”
Mr Ocran noted that, providing high quality qualifications, which were standardised and comparable across the country, would promote social mobility, enabling citizens to improve their economic situations through training and work.
This he said would improve labour mobility across the country allowing workers to respond to changes in the economy as well as provide a basis for establishing international confidence in Ghanaian qualification.
He charged the Regional Ministers to ensure that they were put to proper use, for the benefit of the entire society.
Dr Dan Baffour-Awuah, Executive Director, Council for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (COTVET) said the equipments were to be distributed among selected districts across the country.
He said 11 districts in the Greater Accra Region,14 districts in the Ashanti Region, 12 in the Western Region, 10 each in the Central and Volta Regions, nine in the Eastern Region, 12 and 8 in the Brong Ahafo and Northern Regions respectively and seven each in both Upper East and West Regions would receive the equipment.
Dr Baffour-Awuah noted that the equipments would cover areas in garment making, cosmetology, ICT, welding and fabrication, block laying and concreting and carpentry and joinery.
Mr Nyamekye-Marfo, Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, on behalf of the Ministers thanked the government for making it possible for the sector to be improved and assured that they would make good use of the tools.
He also appealed to the Ministry and government to look at ways of providing some capital to the graduates to start their business after the training to ensure economic benefit to the trainees and government.
Source: GNA