Ghana Wins Big At Worldskills Africa Kigali 2018 Regional Competition

Worldskills International (WSI) is a global body that promotes the development of skills among the youth through bi-annual hosting of World Skills Competition. The objective of Worldskills Competition is to challenge the youth to aspire for greater excellence in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and skills development for national and global economic transformation.

This year, The Council for Technical and Vocational Education in collaboration with the Ministry of Education organized both zonal and national skills competition in September and November 2018 respectively. The Worldskills International in partnership with the Ministry of Education, Rwanda and the Integrated Polytechnic Regional College (IPRC) has organized the Worldskills Africa Kigali 2018 Regional Skills Competition as part of efforts to institutionalize an African Worldskills Competition in the Africa continent. In all, six skilled areas were contested in by Ghana, Rwanda, Morocco, Liberia, Kenya and Uganda. Ghana competed in four skilled areas which were Cooking, Hairdressing, Electrical Wiring and Mechatronics. The two trades that Ghana was not represented in are Welding and Bricklaying.

At the end of the competition, Ghana won gold in the Cooking category, Silver in Hairdressing, Silver in Electrical Wiring and Bronze in Mechatronics. The exciting news is that all competitors from Ghana brought some medals home. This is a reflection of the importance that Government attaches to TVET development and that more needs to be done to inspire the youth to think skills and learn skills for employability, industrial transformation and national development.

The competitors from Ghana were: Sika Mortoo (Cooking), Ebenezer Nuamah (Electrical Wiring), Clement Tei Siaw (Mechatronics) all from the Accra Technical University and Lisa Mendita (Hairdressing) from FC Beauty College. The Ministry of Education and the Council for Technical Education and Training (COTVET) is grateful to all the technical experts that supported in grooming the competitors for the competition.

The Executive Director for COTVET, Dr. Fred Kyei Asamoah congratulated the competitors for making Ghana proud on the maiden competition also advised all Ghanaians to opt for TVET as they aspire for skills. This he said will ensure that we develop the relevant skill to support local industry to the next level and also attract more industries to relocate to the country. Skills and entrepreneurship is what will ensure employment for the youth and add value to our services and products as Ghana becomes an industrialized nation and strategically leads Africa.

The Ministry of Education and COTVET are grateful to the European Union, German and Swiss governments, National Youth Authority, Amatrol, Planetcore and Delorenzo for their partnership and sponsorship. We are inviting the private sector bodies, industry players and all stakeholders to join hands in Skilling Ghana for youth empowerment, innovation and creativity as we institutionalized National Skills Competition.

Ghana congratulates all the contestants for their efforts and winning medals for Ghana. Picture of contestants and technical experts below.