Lead industrialisation agenda - Prof. Nyarko charges technical universities
A Deputy Minister of Education in charge of technical and vocational education and training (TVET), Prof. Kingsley Nyarko, has called on technical universities to lead the industrialisation agenda of the country.
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That, he said, was the surest way through which the country would be industrialised.
Moreover, he said skills provided to learners would remain with them throughout their lifetime.
“How can we neglect TVET and still believe that we can create employment for the teeming masses? That would be difficult,” he said.
Visit
Prof. Nyarko said this when he visited the Takoradi Technical University (TTU) as part of his familiarisation visits to technical vocational education and training (TVET) institutions.
He also visited the Cape Coast Technical University (CCTU) and the Kumasi Technical University (KsTU).
The minister had earlier visited institutions including the Ghana Tertiary Education (GTEC) Commission, the Commission for TVET (CTVET), the Ghana TVET Service and the Ho Technical University.
During the visits, he interacted with staff of the various institutions, inspected ongoing works and toured facilities, including workshops and laboratories.
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Prof. Nyarko assured the management of TTU of his support in making sure that their concerns were addressed by the government.
He said the contribution of the government to TVET had been a phenomenon and “we did not have the kind of investment that we have now. So we need to do everything possible to sustain this one.”
The minister held discussions with the management of the TTU, led by the Vice-Chancellor, Rev. Professor John Frank Eshun, on how teaching and learning could be strengthened.
Interaction
At CCTU, where he met with staff, including the Vice— Chancellor, Prof. Kwaku Adutwum Ayim Boakye, Prof. Nyarko said following his appointment, he needed to find out how the technical universities and institutes were doing.
“The whole idea is to find out the position of technical universities, the progress they are making, the problems that they are encountering and their prospects so that we know how we can intervene in moving technical and vocational education forward,” he said.
The government, he said, had invested hugely in TVET, a tangent most countries across the world were moving towards.
The public sector, he said, could not employ most Ghanaians and so, “we need TVET to help us to reduce the unemployment burden on the state, through job creation.”
The deputy minister, who is also the Member of Parliament for Kwadaso, said the TTU, for instance, had indicated to him that after its tracer studies around last year, 77.7 per cent of its graduates were gainfully employed since it was made a technical university, with about 17.8 per cent being self-employed.
He said that was a testament to why the government should continue to invest in TVET.
In effect, he said his mission was to see how the ministry could support the institution, adding that there was a need to strengthen technical universities to enable them to deliver on their mandate.
Prof. Nyarko also inspected the facilities, including libraries, laboratories and workshops, among others, of the two institutions.