Empowering the girl child in Technical and Vocational Education and Training
By Fauzeeya JAMAL-DEEN, Accra
A dialogue on the role of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in empowering the girl child was held in Accra on Wednesday.
The event, which was jointly organised by the Ministry of Education and Plan Ghana, with support from the Netherlands Embassy, was meant to seek broader opinion on how to get more young people to go into technical and vocational training as a panacea to solving the unemployment problem currently saddling the country and improving the socio-economic development of the country.
Deputy Minister for Education in charge of TVET, Barbara Asher Ayisi, in her speech said, “the only way this country can develop is by prioritizing TVET because it is the most practical avenue for acquiring readily employable skills for a modern woman.”
She bemoaned the negative perception which TVET education has earned in the eyes of the Ghanaian public, as a situation she said had contributed to the high numbers of young people seeking nonexistent white collar employment today.
She stressed government’s unrelenting commitment to removing all obstacles to girl-child education in Ghana, especially in those fields of study which are traditionally male dominated.
On his part, the Netherlands Ambassador to Ghana, His Excellency Ron Strikker, added that “the economic growth of a country requires investments, access to finance, educated and skilled people, and TVET is a very important part of that”. He stressed that economic empowerment is impossible without the women in the country hence “no girl should be left behind in the economic empowerment of the country”.
He revealed that as part of the Dutch government’s education investment plans, a €60 million program had been instituted to help developing countries improve and promote TVET education. He also revealed the Dutch government’s plan to establish an “Orange Corner” to help young people build their startups. This he said will be done in collaboration with the Ministry of Business Development.
Country Director for Plan International Ghana, during his speech addressed the organisation’s focus on the need to increase the economic participation of the girl-child in Ghana. He also stated the need for the Ghanaian government to provide resources for infrastructure and training of instructors in TVET institutions.
He went further to say that “The Girls Advocacy Alliance project offers young girls the opportunity to embark on vocational and technical skills as an alternative for development.” Since TVET plays a vital function, there is the need for Ghanaian government to allocate resources to modernize instruction in TVET streams.
He bemoaned the over focus on grades at the expense of skill development saying that this practice stifled innovation.
A dialogue on the role of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in empowering the girl child was held in Accra on Wednesday.
The event, which was jointly organised by the Ministry of Education and Plan Ghana, with support from the Netherlands Embassy, was meant to seek broader opinion on how to get more young people to go into technical and vocational training as a panacea to solving the unemployment problem currently saddling the country and improving the socio-economic development of the country.
Deputy Minister for Education in charge of TVET, Barbara Asher Ayisi, in her speech said, “the only way this country can develop is by prioritizing TVET because it is the most practical avenue for acquiring readily employable skills for a modern woman.”
She bemoaned the negative perception which TVET education has earned in the eyes of the Ghanaian public, as a situation she said had contributed to the high numbers of young people seeking nonexistent white collar employment today.
She stressed government’s unrelenting commitment to removing all obstacles to girl-child education in Ghana, especially in those fields of study which are traditionally male dominated.
On his part, the Netherlands Ambassador to Ghana, His Excellency Ron Strikker, added that “the economic growth of a country requires investments, access to finance, educated and skilled people, and TVET is a very important part of that”. He stressed that economic empowerment is impossible without the women in the country hence “no girl should be left behind in the economic empowerment of the country”.
He revealed that as part of the Dutch government’s education investment plans, a €60 million program had been instituted to help developing countries improve and promote TVET education. He also revealed the Dutch government’s plan to establish an “Orange Corner” to help young people build their startups. This he said will be done in collaboration with the Ministry of Business Development.
Country Director for Plan International Ghana, during his speech addressed the organisation’s focus on the need to increase the economic participation of the girl-child in Ghana. He also stated the need for the Ghanaian government to provide resources for infrastructure and training of instructors in TVET institutions.
He went further to say that “The Girls Advocacy Alliance project offers young girls the opportunity to embark on vocational and technical skills as an alternative for development.” Since TVET plays a vital function, there is the need for Ghanaian government to allocate resources to modernize instruction in TVET streams.
He bemoaned the over focus on grades at the expense of skill development saying that this practice stifled innovation.
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