City & Guilds bemoans neglect of Technical/Vocational education

The Regional Representative, West Africa, of City & Guilds, Kingsley Koranteng, has bemoaned the neglect of vocation and technical education in the country by successive governments.“Technical and vocational education has not received the needed attention and support from successive governments of this country, though, it  is seen by all as the catalyst for this nation’s industrialisation agenda, and for that matter, equipping our youth with employable skills, thereby reducing poverty,” noted Mr. Koranteng in an interaction with some media personnel in Accra on Monday.

According to him, technical and vocational education had received little attention, because much emphasis had been placed in developing the various academia institutions in the country.
Other contributory factors, he noted, were lack of equipment and quality teachers to support training, a situation he said, had impacted negatively on the “calibre of technical graduates we produce.”

That notwithstanding, Mr. Koranteng expressed dismay at not having in place a qualification credit frame to map technical awards to academic awards, saying, “this explains why technical graduates are frustrated by employers placing them wrongly with inappropriate salary and job levels.”

The universities, he said, had contributed to compounding the issue, by denying technical graduates entry to further their education.
He also expressed shock at some the attitude of some parents towards technical and vocation education.

“What is interesting is that no parent wants his or her child to take to technical or vocation education, yet they want to enjoy electricity, water to flow through their taps, their telephones to work constantly, to have internet access,” he noted.

Technical and vocational education, according to Mr. Koranteng, had made countries like the United Kingdom (UK), Malaysia, Taiwan, China, and India great nations because of enormous investment, and the importance they attached to that sector.
To that effect, he urged policy makers to place much importance on technical and vocation education when formulating policies, in order to help develop the country, especially, as Ghana prepares to exploit oil and gas in commercial quantities.

One of the biggest challenges confronting technical and vocation education, according to Mr. Koranteng, had to do with recognition from employers and some educational institutions, drawing into account how some employers discriminate against technical and vocational graduates when it comes to job placement and salary.

“It is sad to know that efforts to provide skills for our youth are twisted by some institutions in this country. City and Guilds Health Care award train persons to become professional careers with internationally recognised certification. However, the Nurses and Midwifery Council is twisting these efforts by preventing government hospitals from employing these graduates, although they need their services,” he noted.

He, however, appealed to the Ministry of Health to intervene in the way the Nurses and Midwifery Council was frustrating certificate holders of City and Guilds Health Care from being employed in Government hospitals.