More than 60,000 students offering TVET for 2023/2024 year – Dr Adutwum

Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, Minister of Education, says a total of 60,481 new students have enrolled in various Government TVET institutions for the 2023/2024 academic calendar compared to less than 20,000 students enrolled annually prior to 2017.

With this new enrolment, the total number of enrolments in Government TVET institutions, which provide free TVET, stands at 157,681.

This follows the realignment of TVET institutions to the Ministry of Education (MoE) and consolidation of the Free TVET for ALL, coupled with the implementation of the MyTVET campaign to change perceptions about TVET in the country.

Dr Adutwum whose speech was read by Prof. Mark Adom Asamoah, Advisor on STEM at the Ministry of Education, made the disclosure at the maiden TVET Symposium
and the launch of the Second Edition of the Ghana TVET Report in Accra.

The conference, which was on the theme: “Advancing TVET and skills development towards sustainable and decent job creation”, was attended by officials from TVET institutions, and students.

Dr Adutwum also said to fully harness the potential offered by TVET, the government had initiated a number of policies as part of the TVET transformation agenda, and in the process of developing new Competency Based Training (CBT) curriculum amidst massive investments in TVET infrastructure, and TVET teacher training, among others.

Dr Adutwum also revealed that the Government of Ghana in collaboration with development partners had established a competitive fund, called the Ghana Skills
Development Fund (GSDF).

He said the GSDF was embedded in the Government’s TVET policy to “improve the productivity and competitiveness of the skilled workforce and raise the income-earning capacities of people, especially women, low-income groups, and People with Disabilities (PWDs) through the provision of quality-oriented, industry-focused, and competency-based training programmes and complementary services.”

He said at least 42,000 individuals were expected to be employed in the private enterprises for six months after the implementation of the grant, resulting in increased income and better welfare of Ghanaians.

He said just last year, over 200 million Ghana cedis was disbursed to more enterprises as part of the implementation of the GSDF.

“I would like to encourage all gathered here to take advantage of this opportunity that has been provided by the government” he said.

Dr Fred Kyei Asamoah, Director General, Commission for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (CTVET) in his remark, stated that as part of the Commission’s mandate as stipulated in Act 1023, they were expected to develop and publish annual reports on the state of TVET in Ghana.

He said the Commission had since 2022 been developing those reports meant to collect data on a set of indicators to measure the efficiency and effectiveness of the TVET sector.

He said the TVET Reporting provided a spine for the development of programmes and Policy formulation and also contributed to building a robust TVET system for
Ghana’s development.