Vice-president Mahamudu Bawumia on Wednesday, 27 October 2021, launched the 2021 National Skills Competition and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Expo in Accra. 

Organised by the Council for Technical and Vocational Education Training (COTVET), the National Skills Competition is to create a platform for competitors to showcase their skills while the expo affords stakeholders in TVET to exhibit the impact of the government's investment in the promotion of technical and vocational education and training. 

Opening the three-day event, Vice-president Bawumia underscored the importance of TVET to job creation, as well as the government's commitment to its promotion. 

'TVET is a key catalyst to spurring industrialisation and decent job creation for the citizens of this country," Dr Bawumia said. 

"For sustainable development to occur, there is an urgent need for us to pay significant attention to training highly skilled human resources to serve as key drivers of the economy. A Ghana beyond aid could only be possible when the youth are equipped with competitive global skills and introduced to various skilled careers," he added. 

Highlighting the prioritisation of TVET and massive investment in it by the Akufo-Addo government since 2017, Dr Bawumia recalled, how TVET was replete with serious challenges, which had affected the quality of TVET when the Akufo-Addo government assumed office in 2017. 

Among the challenges the Vice President named were: poor linkage between training institutions and industry; deeply fragmented landscape and lack of coordination among multiple TVET delivery agencies; the multiplicity of standards, testing and certification systems; low-quality instruction, due to inadequate instructor training and lack of instructional support and TVET infrastructure. 

TRANSFORMATION OF TVET 

But with massive investment and several policy initiatives by the Akufo-Addo government, a number of these challenges, Dr Bawumia noted, have been addressed, and TVET, he added, has become more attractive and is benefiting many young people. 

"To begin with, we have sanitised the TVET sector to ensure the effective regulation, administration and promotion of technical and vocational education and training for the transformation and innovation for sustainable development," Dr Bawumia stated. 

"Our government has ensured the passage of the Education Regulatory Bodies Act, 2020 (Act 1023). The Education Regulatory Bodies Act resulted in the merger of the erstwhile Council for TVET (COTVET) and National Board for Professional and Technician Examination (NABPTEX) to establish the Commission for TVET (CTVET)." 

"The government of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has also established sector skills bodies to focus on exploring business opportunities, innovation and capacity needs within the sectors. 

"Furthermore, Free TVET is a key component of the Government’s Free Senior High School initiative, and over 65,000 students have so far benefitted from this in the various technical institutes under the Ministry of Education." 

"Our government is also constructing, upgrading and modernizing all National Vocational Training Institutes (NVTIs) and Opportunity Industrialization Centres (OIC). So far, 17 Technical and Vocational Institutes across the country are being upgraded and modernised." 

Dr. Bawumia stressed that the Akufo-Addo government will continue to prioritise the promotion of TVET, adding that no government, since independence, has paid as much attention, and invested as much in TVET as the government of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.