The Ghana Institution of Engineering (GhIE) has officially licensed and inducted 57 beneficiary-artisans under its Craftsmen Register.
The induction was held at the Engineers Centre in Accra on Monday as part of GhIE Annual Conference and Engineering week celebration on-going in Accra from March 28, 2022 to April, 2022.
The induction marks the official and legal acceptance of the artisans, who are beneficiaries of the Professionalisation of Artisans (ProfArts) projects into the Engineering Council.
In his welcome address, the Executive Director of the GhIE, David Nyante, said a few years ago, the GhIE embraced all engineering practitioners (craftsmen, technicians, technologists and Engineers), thus changing the name from the Ghana Institution of Engineers to the Ghana Institution of Engineering, thus, leaving no engineering practitioner behind in professionalising the practice of engineering.
The President of the GhIE, Reverend Professor Charles Anum Adams, told the craftsmen inductees that “today is a very important milestone in your career where you are being admitted into a professional association and your names are being entered into the licensing register as professional craftsmen. It is a big deal and you have every reason to be glad.”
The GhIE President said the institution envisaged to bring on board over 2,000 craftsmen into the institution before the end of his tenure as President.
He called on the government of Ghana to set up a professional apprenticeship scheme as a healthy job creation strategy for the youth in professional trades which had future relevance.
The chairman of the Membership Committee of GhIE, Dr Patrick A. Bekoe, explained that a total of 57 candidates in four Technical Divisions were given approval by GhIE Council after going through rigorous training and meeting the minimum academic experience requirement stipulated in the Constitution and bye-laws of the institution.
He said candidates were selected from Greater Accra, Ashanti and Northern regions.
“Those who were inducted today were selected from Greater Accra Region to mark the start of our Annual Engineering Conference,” Dr Bekoe stressed.
Mr John Duti, Team Leader of Invest for Jobs at GIZ-Ghana, stated that the ProfArts project was intended to improve the employment situation of local artisans and micro-enterprises in the construction sector and the associated value chain, through technical skill upgrade training, business skills training, tool training, financial literacy training and licensing under the Ghanaians craftsmen register of the Ghana Institution of Engineering.
The Director-General of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), MrsMawusiNudekorAwity, expressed delight and appreciation to GhIE and its partners for the initiative of bringing all artisans under the umbrella of the GhIE.
She assured the institution of her office’s full support to the programme because it “falls directly in line with TVET’s mandate to equip people with the technical and professional skills needed for socioeconomic and industrial development of the country.”
The special guest, MrRichard Adarkwah, who is also a craftsman, urged all craftsmen that the GhIE’s doors were widely opened to all craftsmen.
He advised the newly-inducted professional artisans to let their works speak for itself, improve their working environment, work as professionals, register their businesses so that you can issue correct invoices and accept cheques from customers.
BY KINGSLEY ASARE