Stakeholders in the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) space in Ghana are calling for broader collaboration between the government and private sector to improve the training of graduates.
Making the passionate appeal at the 2024 Africa Skills Week at the La Palm Royal Beach Hotel on Friday, October 18, members of a panel discussion lamented the disconnect between the theory taught in various tertiary institutions and the lack of practical skills taught and called for greater collaborations to close to the differential gap.
The keynote address was delivered by Professor Humphrey Danso, who underscored the critical importance of private sector collaboration in transforming the TVET system. He emphasised that without strong partnerships between businesses and TVET institutions, graduates may struggle to acquire the skills that industries demand.
Founder of Accent and the Design and Technology Institute (DTI), Miss Constance Elizabeth Swaniker, highlighted the difficulties she encountered in the early days of her companies and the measures she took to close up the skills gap.
“When I started my company, Accent, 25 years ago, I knew what it was like to work with skilled artisans. However, standards and quality were lacking. Accent is now Ghana’s leading metal fabrication company, working with engineers and architects on major projects. The quality of the labour market was a significant issue.
“We collaborated with Italian tilers, Chinese contractors, and other artisans, and I questioned why Ghanaian labourers couldn’t perform the same tasks. This highlighted deficiencies in our educational system, particularly given its British colonial roots, which didn’t prioritise skills-based education. The skilled art designers we encountered were trained through informal apprenticeships.”
On his part, a certified Project Management Professional from the Project Management Institute Pennsylvania, Benedict Mensah also underscored the inseparable relationship between industry and the government in the quest to churn out skilled artisans.
“If you examine the TVET ecosystem, the relationship between the industry, the government, and the schools is symbiotic. You cannot exclude one and rely on the others; they must work together. The primary consumers of TVET graduates are the industries. These industries value and give credence to the products of TVET institutions. If industries seek workers elsewhere while TVET graduates are available, something is amiss.”
“The private sector plays a crucial role in addressing the issue of relevance in skills development. The skills development system should be designed to train for skills in demand. Unfortunately, there has been a focus on quantity over quality, leading many industries to start their own training centers. This is a risk, as it suggests the existing training system is not meeting industry needs. Ideally, industries should collaborate with training centers to establish centers of excellence in training,” a senior TVET and Labour Markets Advisor and National Coordinator for the Dual TVET Rollout, implemented under the Promotion of Youth Employment and TVET project at GIZ Kenya, Gideon Murenga also added.
The Pact for Skills Support to the Transformation of the TVET System in Ghana project is co-funded by the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and the European Union and implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).
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