Accra, March 10, GNA – The Design and Technology Institute (DTI) has urged young girls and women to embrace Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) to improve their livelihoods.
The Institute educated the ladies on the need to embrace TVET as a source of employment and help eliminate gender disparities between men and women in TVET in Ghana.
The Management of DTI gave the advice as part of activities to mark this year’s International Women’s Day celebration in Accra.
The event which was on the theme: “Advancing the role of women; Agents of change in the society” is aimed at creating awareness, sensitizing the public and provide interventions to eliminate the socio-economic disparities between men and women in Ghana and Africa as a whole.
Ms. Esther Cobbah, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Stratcomm Africa, said, “change is a variable that is inevitable in every society.”
She, therefore, encouraged the young girls and women to pay attention to their environment, be receptive and adaptive, and work to resolve challenges that may negatively affect them due to change.
She said women needed to be aware of the change and identify the opportunities that they present. Women that think and prepare for change, and have it engraved in their mind, survive best,” she stated.
Ms. Vivian Glante, the Vice Principal for Administration of the Tema Technical Institute, who spoke on the topic: The Disturbing Reality of Youth Unemployment; Girls in TVET, a Panacea to Youth Unemployment, said women were key figures in creating sustainable jobs in our social and economic contexts.
“People with vocational skills will lead the industrialized future, and young girls and women will be instrumental to bridging the skills and manpower gap required. There is, therefore, the need for TVET institutions to have a clear gender parity admission policy in place to create a diverse, equitable and inclusive learning environment,” she added.
Ms. Constance Elizabeth Swaniker, Founder and CEO of DTI, in her address, said the event was a major step to ensure that we break the bias against girls and women while bridging the gender gap in TVET and sustainable job creation in the country.
“We can contribute to creating sustainable jobs for Ghanaians if heads of TVET institutions continue to work to create the enabling environment that will help young girls and women to enroll and thrive in TVET programmes, gain employable skills and establish thriving businesses to support Ghana’s economic growth,” she said.
The CEO said, “Men and boys are integral to the gender conversation because they are also affected by cultural values and traditions as women.
Ms Swaniker, therefore, said involving men, was crucial in all initiatives for gender equality and women empowerment.
The event forms part of DTIs partnership with the Mastercard Foundation under the Young Africa Works Strategy to empower and create access for young girls by admitting 30 per cent through the gender parity admission policy per cohort.
The school currently has a total student population of 112 with 34 being girls.
This year’s event was attended by students from Soronko Academy, Presbyterian Boys Secondary School, Tema Secondary School and provided the platform to share and showcase the work of DTI to the participants, who gained valuable insight from seasoned women in business and academia on how to leverage TVET to create sustainable jobs for the teeming unemployed youth.
GNA