The government has announced plans to increase the number of students pursuing Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) to 50% of all learners, aiming to address the country’s unemployment rate.
According to the Commission for Technical and Vocational Education and Training, while the number of Junior High School students enrolling in TVET programs at Senior High Schools has significantly increased, further efforts are needed to make the sector more appealing, particularly to young people.
Dr. Fred Kyei Asamoah, Director-General of the Commission, stressed the importance of embracing TVET in Ghana, citing international examples like Germany, where 65% of learners pursue TVET.
He underscored the value of dual training, which combines workplace experience with academic instruction.
“The perception about TVET is international, it’s not only in Ghana. When we came first into government, the percentage of learners going into TVET in Germany was close to 70 percent. Now is about 65 so the Germans are looking for a new approach, advanced dual TVET, so you want to go to the university, that’s fine but it has to be dual training, so you go to the workplace three days and go for lectures two days because whether we like it or not, the TVET approach is what’s going to happen.”
” So, it’s about product. If you look at what we’ve done, moving from below 20,000 learners from junior secondary schools going to TVET to over 60,000 it is something significant. But have we gotten there yet? No! We are expecting that at Keats about 50 percent of our learners should be opting for TVET.”
Janet Abobigo, entrepreneur and CEO of Unijay Company Limited, praised the initiative, noting that it will strengthen Ghana’s TVET sector and create more job opportunities for the youth.
She also highlighted the importance of technical knowledge in various industries and the potential for exporting goods to countries like the US.
