Draft TVET policy identifies weakness in technical education

Tema, July 6, GNA- There is no comprehensive national policy for Technical/Vocational Education and Training (TVET) under the current TVET system in the country.

In addition, the low status of TVET affects student intake, staffing and funding for technical education.

These were contained in a draft TVET policy framework for Ghana put together after a series of consultations and workshops by a task force set up by the government to review and update the TVET policy. The draft policy, which had been presented to the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, revealed that there was a gap between official recognition of the role of TVET and actual support given to that sector.

It pointed out that the link between the TVET and industry was weak with regards to supply and demand for skills.

The draft policy further noted that, training and facilities were inadequate and generally obsolete, therefore the quality of teaching and learning was unsatisfactory due to inadequate teacher preparation and lack of instructional support facilities.

It realised that females were grossly under-represented in formal TVET, especially in engineering programmes due to inadequate career services.

"There are miss-matches between the demand and supply of skills due to lack of labour market information against the non-formal sub-sector of TVET".

The draft policy said the participation of persons with disabilities and other disadvantaged groups was low and that the environmental consequences of TVET-based activities had been ignored.