Education Minister inaugurates COTVET Governing Board

Accra, Feb. 20, GNA - Professor Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang, Minister of Education, has inaugurated a 16-member Board for the Council for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (COTVET) and charged them to develop policies to enhance skills training.

The Minister highlighted the economic importance of technical and vocational education and training and expressed Government's commitment to supporting the sector.

She said enhanced Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) formed the bedrock for development and it was one of Government's key strategies for empowering the youth with relevant skills for employment in the various sectors of the economy.

'As the strength of the country's economy is dependent on the quality of its human resource, more especially the technical manpower, Government is taking all necessary steps to support capacity improvement in the TVET sub-sector,' she said.

Prof. Opoku Agyeman said Ghana's education and training policy had not been able to achieve its potential although education was an important building block of the economy.

'Our goal to meet the skills needs of the economy and industry in particular, is far from realization,' she said.

The Minister called for fruitful collaboration, intelligent strategies and action plans among stakeholders to achieve global competitiveness of the Ghanaian workforce.

She expressed the hope that the rich blend of COTVET's governing board would result in the development of sound policies on TVET that were relevant to Ghana's socio-economic needs.

Mr Rockson K. Dogbegah, Board Chairman of the COTVET, assured the Minister of the board's commitment to pursue strategic objectives to improve the development of practical skills and knowledge for enhanced productivity.

This, he said, would help reduce unemployment and poverty in the country.

He said many developed and transition countries had achieved significant development success because of the crucial emphasis placed on TVET and associated competency-based training (CBT).

Mr Dogbegah said the board would take steps to address the mismatch between acquired skills and market needs, as well as the widespread concern about poor quality training and training environments.

Also, the board would tackle the negative public attitudes and perceptions regarding technical and vocational education and training in Ghana.

'We shall also continue in the effort of orienting Ghanaians to accept Technical and Vocational Education and Training as a panacea for enhanced socio-economic development by making technical and vocational education more appealing, acceptable and which responds to the needs of society,' he said.

Mr Dogbegah said the board would also create the necessary environment to help bridge the gap between industry and academia.

'We would seriously consider an annual open day to espouse the benefits of TVET to make it attractive and a first option programme and not playing second fiddle to grammar,' he said.

Mr Dogbegah said the Board would contribute to pushing forward the agenda of TVET by supporting the Management of COTVET in the pursuit of its vision and mission to enable TVET take its rightful place in the socio-economic development of the country.

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