The government has assured of continuous investment in Technical and Vocational Education to transform the country.
To achieve this, Senior Minister, Yaw Osafo Maafo says the Nana Akufo-Addo administration is emulating the examples of countries like China and Japan who through Technical and Vocational Education have witnessed massive development over the years.
The Senior Minister was speaking at the inauguration of an Agri-Business Centre built by ENI at Kyeremasu in the Dormaa East District of the Ahafo Region.
“This economy of ours can never develop without developing agriculture systematically and scientifically. This is because over the years, we have paid lip service to technical and vocational education and training and our education has tended to be what is described as grammarian.”
But he said the government has decided that “it is time to make a change.”
“It is time to change focus from grammarian education to technical vocational education and training and therefore this project is just right.”
In line with this, Parliament in March approved a 123 million euro loan facility to finance the upgrading of the vocational education system in the country.
The loan is for the project that will see all 34 vocational training institutes in the country get a facelift to improve the training of the youth to gain employable skills.
The promise of free TVET education
In 2018, President Akufo-Addo at the National Conference on Technical and Vocational Education, in Koforidua, in the Eastern Region, outlined the government’s strategic policy on Technical and Vocational Education and Training.
The President stressed that the Government had decided to align and bring all public TVET institutions in the country under the direct supervision of the Ministry of Education.
He also said that Deputy Minister of Education, Barbara Ayisi, will directly be responsible for technical and Vocational training institutions at the ministry.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo also said that his government would this year, 2018, extend the free Senior High School initiative to cover technical and vocational institutions in the country.