By Morkporkpor Anku
Accra, March 3, GNA – More than 800 Master Crafts Persons (MCP) have benefited from the Coaching Series to cause a mindset shift as part of the Precision Quality (PQ) Agenda championed by the Design and Technology Institute (DTI).
The Coaching activity is performed to ensure that knowledge that is impacted during the PQ training is embedded and implemented in the daily activities of MCPs and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
The Series is a follow-up to the PQ training in which MCP and SMEs were introduced and taken through the PQ model and how they can leverage it to grow their businesses.
Mr Edwin Faryosey, the Acting Project Coordinator at DTI, speaking at the training Session in Accra, said the training had been held in three regions such as Ashanti, Volta, and Greater Accra.
He said the training was part of DTI’s strategy to work with key stakeholders to enable three million young people, particularly women, to access dignified and fulfilling work opportunities by 2030 using a multiplier approach.
He said the coaching programme formed part of a three-year transforming youth TVET livelihoods for sustainable jobs partnership between DTI and the Mastercard Foundation, as part of the Foundation’s Young Africa Works strategy in Ghana.
“The programme will provide 40,000 direct and indirect work opportunities for young people in the country to remain competitive with the trade,” he added.
On who benefits from the coaching, he said MCP should have undergone the PQ training and must have been operating for at least a year.
The MCP should have completed his/her business registration and should have an active bank account.
He said 1,200 MCPs and SMEs have benefited from the three-day coaching programme in Kumasi.
The Acting Project Coordinator said the Coaching event had PQ Edutainment (Drama series) and this entailed the use of drama to showcase industry best practices for MCPs, while the other involved comprehensive discussions with MCPs based on the Drama.
“We decided to put the training into a drama form to enable them better relate to it well, ” he added.
Mr Faryosey said that currently, in three administrative regions of the country, they plan to expand it to the rest of the regions.
He said the plan was for the trainees to retrain their colleagues when they returned to their previous businesses.
The Acting Project Coordinator said the PQ agenda was a course on its own and urged the beneficiaries to make sure they implemented what they learnt because a time would come, artisans would have to be certified to operate.
He said the idea behind the precision policy was to have a mindset shift in the way things like customer management were done.
The Acting Project Coordinator said the impacts were enormous because currently most of the trainees could now open bank accounts and do things right regarding their business while being able to maintain very good customer relationships.
“Basically, they have been able to improve on their business creating more employment as far as their businesses are concerned,” he added.
A Participant told the Ghana News Agency, they were equipped to better understand their customers and serve them well, while keeping their place of work tidy to attract more customers.
GNA