Mr Felix Mets, Principal, Pilot Technical Institute, says Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) is key to addressing skills gap and high unemployment in the country.
He said TVET and entrepreneurial skills were the surest ways to position Ghana to match developed countries like Japan, South Korea, Germany and Canada.
The Principal said this at the graduation ceremony for 40 young adults, trained in practical and entrepreneurial skills, painting and Information Communication Technology (ICT) at the Pilot Technical Institute.
The training was under the Ghana Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Service in Accra and in collaboration with the Human Rights Advocacy Centre (HRAC) with the aim to empower unemployed youth by providing them with employable skills to run successful businesses in technology related fields.
Mr Mets said Ghana’s development had been slow because attention had not been given to TVET, saying: ‘Previously we were made to understand that people who did n
ot do well at the basic level, go for technical and vocational education, but our case is that developed countries made it possible with TVET.’
‘Everything around us is TVET, talk about the escalator, mansions, our clothes and cars and we are happy that people now understand the concept. In today’s dynamic and competitive market, a myriad of skills is critical for young people to create self-employment opportunities, innovate, and contribute to economic development,’ the Principal said.
The training programme was a maiden project embarked on by the Human Rights Advocacy Centre (HRAC), a Non-Governmental Organisation, with about 16 years experience in similar projects.
Madam Modupe Anorkplim Nukunu, Executive Director, HRAC, said people had the right to education and basic amenities and that persons without employable skills were likely to get into social vices and end up in jail.
She said the students had been supported in registering their businesses, creating websites, and preparing business plans as pa
rt of efforts to run viable businesses that could employ other young adults.
Sharifa Muniru and Rachael Tamatey, who trained as professional painters after the six months period, told the Ghana News Agency that they had become economically independent.
Source: Ghana News Agency