Solving unemployment menace: TVET is Ghana’s surest bet - Contractor

The Chief Executive Officer of Kumasi-based construction firm, Fapem Constructions Limited, Mr. Emmanuel Boakye Fapem, has called on the government to focus more on technical and vocational education and training in order to provide the practical skills needed to reduce the unemployment menace in Ghana.

While lauding the government for embarking on massive reforms in the area of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in Ghana, Mr. Boakye Fapem urged the government to allocate a lot more resources and funds to the building of technical and vocational schools across the country for the training of experts in both fields.

According to Mr. Boakye Fapem, technical and vocational education had been relegated to the background, adding that no nation could develop without paying great attention to technical and vocational education.

“Technical and vocational education is the backbone of any country that focuses on industrialization drive, so it apt for the government to prioritize TVET services in Ghana," he said.

He emphasized that the government ought to allocate a lot of resources to the training of technical and vocational and also appealed to Ghanaians to show a lot more interest in technical and vocational education and training.

He said this when commissioning an eight-seater toilet facility and a new kitchen block for catering students at the Tetrefu Technical Institute in the Bosomtwe District of the Ashanti Region on Thursday, June 16, 2022, donated by an NGO.

Government in 2022 launched the Ghana Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Service to bring all vocational programs, run by different ministries under its roof.

This brings together all the technical and vocational programs run by 19 different Ministries under the ambit of the Ghana TVET Service.

Mr. Fapem noted that he supports the reforms, adding that they will give opportunities for improved management and delivery of TVET in the country.

He noted that his construction firm is always open to students who seek industrial attachment opportunities.

Mr. Fapem explained that the company has over the years helped technical students to apply, test, and integrate academic knowledge and theoretical concepts during such internships.

"In line with Government's commitment to supporting youth empowerment, we are offering continuing students right from the second cycle institutions to tertiary level technical institutions to gain hands-on work experience and develop key employability skills," he noted.

Mr. Boakye Fapem who is an old student of the school noted that Students from Tetrefu Technical Institute have the chance to be employed by the company provided they have the required skills and expertise.

The company currently has over 200 direct workers, and we are looking forward to supporting youth in the country by given them practical working skills and employing them at the same time.

Mr. Fapem however called on the government to provide infrastructural support to the Tetrefu Technical Institute to help the students prepare well for their future endeavors.