W/R: COTVET Free Education For Informal Sector

The project which seeks to provide free vocational education to the informal sector by leveraging on the professional expertise of players in industry and academia has been outdoored in Takoradi in the Western Region of Ghana.

Dubbed “Ghana TVET Voucher Project”, the initiative aims to provide competency-based training (CBT) to registered master craftspersons, their workers and apprentices from the informal sector and also improve their access to accredited technical and vocational education and training at no cost.

It will also enable them to obtain National Proficiency Level I and II Certificates and strengthen Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) stakeholders, such as training institutes, trade associations and the regulatory body, the Council for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (COTVET).

Furthermore, the project aims to establish a consistent incentive system for vocational training providers taking into consideration the labour market relevance of such training.

Unveiling the project at a short ceremony at the Takoradi Technical University on Thursday, April 25, 2019, the Western Regional Minister, Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah, said the NPP-led government strongly believes that technical and vocational education is going to be the driving force of the country's industrial and economic development.

The team leader for the Ghana TVET Voucher Project, Collins Armah, on his part said for the country to get the needed employment for its youth, it has to put TVET at the forefront.

The project, he explained, started in 2017 where it was piloted in four regions namely; Greater Accra, Ashanti, Northern and Volta Regions.

The project, according to Mr. Armah, is to help the people in the informal sector to have access to quality training in a recognized training provider.

The project is under the Ghanaian-German Financial Development Cooperation and co-financed by the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMW) through KfW Development Bank and the Government of Ghana.

The projected sum is €22million – with the German Government providing €20million while the remaining €2million is being provided by the Government of Ghana.

The project has since September 2017 trained over 5,000 people ineligible trade areas such as Beauty and cosmetology, consumer electronics, automotive repair, building construction and dressmaking.

It has also added plumbing, furniture making, electric installation, block laying and tiling and catering and hospitality to the project.

—citinewsroom