The Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II has bemoaned the ineffectiveness of technical and vocational education in the country due to neglect on the part of government.
Speaking at the Akenten Appiah-Menka University of Skills Training and Entrepreneural Development in Kumasi, he had observed that more focus was placed on the theoritical aspect in Ghana’s education in comparison to the technical aspect.
According to him, students simply use rote memory to pass their examinations, failing to see the need for skill development.
He bemoaned the lack of attention given to students capable of excelling in TVET.
”Someone uses the initiative to draw, design and we say that he can not be an engineer. We left so many people in school because of the type of [theoretical education] that was introduced recently. Now we ‘chew, pour, pass and forget’ with no initiative and we attain exam certificates to be admitted to the university. Those who couldn’t do that were left behind, not being able to identify what they could do
in terms of skills training. We have lost the human resources that we needed to use to develop Ghana,” he said.
In response to the Asantehene’s statement, the Executive director for the Institute for Education Studies (IFEST), Dr. Peter Anti articulated that government has recently been showing interest in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET).
According to him, government’s attempts to transform polytechnic institutes to universities is a bigger step to prove the importance of technical and vocational education.
”In recent times, the government has shown serious commitment in TVET education. If you look at the kind of infrastructure improvement coupled with [government’s] idea of transforming the various polytechnics to universities, these are investments that I think are indication that government is committed to ensuring that TVET takes its rightful place in Ghana’s education,” he said.
Dr. Anti however expressed disappointment in the failure of policy makers to raise awareness on the importance of TVET.
“Unfortunately, policy makers have not done well in terms of conscientizing the populace on the importance of Technical and Vocational Education and that has contributed to the stigma.” he said.
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Story by | Nana Kwegyirba Koomson| universnews.ug.edu.gh
