Renowned Business Executive and former Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, Dr. Joyce Aryee is making a strong case for vocational and technical skills training as she describes the two as the game changer in the technological world.
This call follows numerous concerns over the steady rise in unemployment especially among the youth in the country of which some economists have described as a major socio-political and economic challenge to the security of the country.
According to a 2020 World Bank report titled “Youth Employment Programs in Ghana: Options for Effective Policy Making and Implementation” it identifies agribusiness, entrepreneurship, apprenticeship, construction, tourism and sports as key sectors that can offer increased employment opportunities for Ghanaian youth.
It also indicated that Ghana is faced with 12% youth unemployment and more than 50% underemployment, both higher than overall unemployment rates in Sub-Saharan African countries.
Speaking at a forum organized by Mobile Telecommunications Network (MTN) Ghana dubbed “MTN Bright Conversations”, Dr. Aryee said “in Ghana we denigrate vocational skills a lot and yet if you want to go into manufacturing you don’t just need the person with the highest qualification to be the CEO but you also need the people who can actually do the manufacturing, “she said.
“We need to let our people understand that vocational education is not just being “oyaadie yiee” sewing machine but that in this technological world, the game changer, vocational skills and technical skills, and we need to engage more people, there will be more jobs,” she stressed.
“There aren’t going to be many jobs in the humanities, there are going to be more jobs in the sciences, in the vocational skills and technical skills you do need a bit of the humanities because you still need people to teach language and other skills in the humanities and so it is very important to understand education needs totality and also so redirect our minds,” she emphasized.
Story: Henry George Martinson@radiogoldlive.com
