75% Technical, vocational curriculum archaic — COTVET Report

About 75 per cent of the curriculum for technical and vocational education and training (TEVT) institutions are outdated, a report by the Council for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (COTVET) has revealed.

The report further revealed that the ineffective mode of teaching at the various TVET institutions had adversely impacted on the productivity levels of graduates from those schools on the job market.

The report, which was made known in Accra today (November 1), also stated that low qualification of teachers in TVET institutions was crippling the performance of students in the schools.

These revelations were made during a stakeholder forum to review the maiden report on the skills gap analysis report by COTVET.

Specifics

The objective of the report was to examine specific skill acquisition by students in TVET institutions and their employability after school, as well as their productivity in seven major sectors.

The sectors include agriculture, construction industry, electronics, automotive, energy, information and communications technology (ICT), manufacturing, as well as tourism and the hospitality industry.

In the report, the employers complained that there was no difference in the output and productivity levels of persons with TVET background and other untrained staff.

The report added that most workers did not perform to the best of their abilities because of the notion of quitting jobs anytime a better job opportunity came knocking.

Data from the report indicated that only 19 per cent of persons with training in TVET were offered employment between 2017 and 2018.

Recommendation

The report advocated the revision of the training curriculum with innovative courses to help students meet the demand of the industry.

Second, it called on the government to help teachers in the various TVET institutions to develop their knowledge base to ensure that students received the right training.

Third, the report urged on the COTVET to engage in frequent stakeholder consultations such as the National Board for Professional and Technicians (NAPTEX) in order to identify the gaps and work towards addressing the challenge.

Fourth it appealed to the government to put in the right infrastructure to enable TVET students to acquire the needed skills in their training.

Finally, it was recommended that parents encourage their children to take up careers in any of the technical and vocational areas of study.

Government intervention

The Executive Director of COTVET, Dr Fred Kyei Asamoah, pledged government’s support towards enhancing TVET education to make it attractive to the youth.

He added that the sectors of the economy that had links with technical training in the country would be supported to provide employment opportunities for the TVET graduates.