Narrative on TVET Must Focus on Pragmatic Action -- Deputy CEO of NYA.

Mr. Nelson Owusu Ansah, Deputy CEO of the NYA responsible for Programs and Operations has said that the prevailing narrative on Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) must give way to a more pragmatic and actionable one to ensure that skills training actually becomes the central pillar of sustainable development.

Mr. Owusu Ansah made these comments at the National Launch of Pathways for Sustainable Employment for Women and Youth (PASEWAY) at the AH Hotel in East Legon, Accra.

Speaking on the theme "contributing to increased formal youth employment and decent work in Ghana", Mr. Owusu Ansah said it was regrettable that Technical Vocational Education and Training, with all its hype has not lived up to its billing as the engine meant to supply the middle manpower to expedite the pace of Ghana's development, transforming it into an industrial hub in the West African sub-region.

"Regrettably, the discourse on TVET has become rhetorical as opposed to gaining ground and serving as a transformational tool for sustainable development" Mr. Owusu Ansah stated.

Citing his alma mater Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology Senior High School as an example of integrating TVET courses into grammar school curricula, Mr. Owusu Ansah said that module successfully churned out students in diverse skill based areas. He bemoaned a worrying but creeping trend of graduate students in tertiary institutions renting 'contractors' to write their research and project work on their behalf and said that phenomenon is breeding 1st and 2nd class graduates who regrettably do not fit into the employment market, a clear result of the rising unemployment levels the country faces.

"It is our call that in as much as emphasis on imparting employable, success and life skills are important for sustainable livelihoods, also of equal importance is the impartation of such soft skills as effective communication, teamwork, conflict management, leadership and adaptability which must be integrated in curricula at all levels to ensure the holistic development of the individual" Mr. Owusu Ansah emphasized.

He commended the implementers of the project, Plan International Ghana for the initiative and thanked for factoring the youth into the project.

The project which begins in November, 2020 seeks to train 4050 women and youth in the construction and hospitality industry by 2022.