By Victoria Agyemang
Cape Coast, Aug 09, GNA – Mr Peter Antwi Boasiako, the Deputy Director General of the Commission for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (CTVET) has called on regulators to cut down students enrolled on less demand-driven and industry led programmes at various universities.
He said the regulation would ensure that the unemployment rate among the youth, particularly graduates was reduced to aid growth and development in the country.
Traditional Universities in Ghana have programmes which have less job opportunities available.
Mr Boasiako made the call when he interacted with Senior High School students as part of the Technical University Teachers Association of Ghana’s (TUTAG) 46th annual delegates congress at the Cape Coast Technical University (CCTU).
The Educational forum was on the theme: “Achieving Future Employment Prospects for the Youth: The Role of Technical Universities”.
Furthermore, he pressed for more investment into TVET education to increase opportunities that could help curtail the unemployment rate to secure a brighter future for the young generation.
Acknowledging some investments made by the Government into technical education, he said more than 19 billion Ghana cedis had been invested to prop up TVET education, thus the need for students to take advantage of it for their survival without depending on others for jobs in future.
The Deputy Director General observed that there were enormous modern equipment and workshops at the disposal of students who offered technical education that was capable of training more students to become the best engineers and entrepreneurs to boost the local economy.
He recommended TVET education to the students, adding that it offered programmes that would give them skilled training, and create jobs and employment for themselves and others.
Mr Boasiako debunked the wrong concept about TVET that it was for dropouts and registered the Commission’s commitment to prove to everyone that it was the best way to secure a better future for the youth and the country at large.
He urged the students, parents, and guardians to consider TVET education as the best option for their children and wards for their own well-being.
For his part, Professor Collins Ameyaw, the National President of TUTAG said the educational forum was aimed at reorienting the youth of Ghana to focus on pursuing career-oriented programmes with the goal of improving their employability after graduating from tertiary institutions.
He hinted that Technical Universities would soon begin to run PhDs to help train higher calibre of lecturers needed to teach competency-based programmes and contribute to nation building.
GNA