EU to spend €17m on TVET in 4 years

The European Union (EU) will over the next four years disburse about €17million to support the transformation of Technical, Vocational, Education and Training (TVET) in the country.

The amount forms part of a larger support disbursement by the EU to promote education and skill set training for sustainable employment creation in the country.

The EU Ambassador to Ghana, Irchad Razaaly disclosed this at a meeting between the Ministry of Education, the EU and the German Delegation in Accra yesterday.

He explained that the EU decided to support the government in this direction due to the level of seriousness it had attached to TVET Education in the country.

Mr Razaaly said in order not to make it look as though the EU was imposing something on the government, it had initiated a dialogue series with the various stakeholders to identify the priority areas when the money would be disbursed into, stressing that “The work of identification of priority areas is currently ongoing.”

Despite this he noted that it would mainly look at areas that could stimulate economic growth and create job opportunities for the youth, especially, in the areas of green economy and sustainable jobs.

On her part, the head of development cooperation at the German Embassy in Accra, Dorothee Dinkelaker said her government was interested in supporting the TVET sector since it had the capacity to generate the needed growth for more job opportunities.

She noted that about €50million had been pumped into the sector by the German government over the last five years and would continue to support Ghana in that direction.

On his part, the Minister of Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum expressed his gratitude for the support and pledged to work with both the EU and German to develop the TVET sector.

According him, the government of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo had identified TVET as the missing link between education and industry.

To this end he said the government would do everything possible to bridge the gap to ensure that the capacity that would develop the economy and create the necessary jobs for the country was achieved.

He said government would be rolling out the dual collaboration between industry and TVET which was actually the missing link.

Dr Adutwum said government required more tertiary and secondary education collaboration so that they can help shape the career pathways for the youth.      

BY CLIFF EKUFUL