[ 2017-05-24 ]

EU-Germany to co-finance Technical and Vocational Training

EU, GIZ to support skills development with €10.7m
The European Union (EU) and Germany have joined
efforts to support skills development for the
youth in Ghana.

Consequently, the EU and the Deutsche Gesellschaft
fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, have
signed an agreement for the Ghana Skills
Development Initiative (GSDI).

The third phase of the Initiative started in April
2016. The total amount of the Ghana Skills
Development Initiative III is 10.769 million
Euros, of which the EU contribution is 7 million
Euros.

The German contribution is part of a wider
Programme for Sustainable Economic Development
(PSED), financed so far with 11.1 million Euros by
the German Federal Ministry for Economic
Cooperation and Development.

The GSDI covers five trade areas: Auto mechanics,
Electronics, Garment/Dressmaking and Tailoring,
Welding and Cosmetology.

However, three more trades and two areas in the
agricultural value chain would be added.

Implemented by the German GIZ in cooperation with
Council for Technical and Vocational Education and
Training (COTVET), the GSDI seeks to improve the
quality of the traditional apprenticeship system
in the informal sector.

It also aims at building capacity in the informal
sector, which generates about 80% to 90% of
employment in Ghana.

To that end, the project seeks to improve the
quality of the traditional apprenticeship system,
which suffers from some structural deficiencies.

The project supports the introduction of
competency-based training, which is industry-led
and demand-driven.

It is an outcomes-based model that is
collaborative in its delivery and anchored on
occupational standards.

It combines both workplace-based training in the
informal sector and school-based training modules
at selected Technical and Vocational Education and
Training (TVET) Training providers.

Mr William Hanna, the EU Ambassador to Ghana,
initialed for the Union, while Mr Christoph
Retzlaff, the German Ambassador to Ghana, and Mr
Alan Walsch, the Country Director of GIZ, signed
for their country.

The ceremony was witnessed by Fred Kyei Asamoah,
the Executive Director of the Council for
Technical and Vocational Education and Training
(COTVET).

Mr Retzlaff said: “The strength of the German
approach were adapted to the Ghanaian context.

“We appreciate that the EU Delegation decided to
co-finance the Ghana Skills Development
Initiative,” he added.

Dr Asamoah hailed the EU and Germany for their
sponsorship for the GSDI project; declaring that
giving the youth skills would equip them to become
more employable and also give them the opportunity
to create their own jobs.

He said the German Development Cooperation had
been providing support to the TVET sector over the
last five years.

Since 2012, he said, a total of 16 training
providers and 10 trade associations cooperated in
the implementation of the cooperative
apprenticeship training for 232 apprentices and
232 Master Crafts persons in the Greater Accra,
Ashanti and Volta regions.

Dr Asamoah said in March, last year, 188
apprentices (81 per cent) were certified on the
National TVET Qualifications Framework and they
successfully achieved their assessment and
received a recognised national proficiency
certificate I.

The Executive Director explained that the National
TVET Qualifications Framework was the standardised
structure for the award of certificates in the
TVET sector.

“We are working together to ensure the
successful roll-out of the development approach
with the Ghana TVET Voucher Programme funded by
the German Development Bank, KwfH, to reach
thousands of master crafts persons and apprentices
of the formal sector,” he said.

“This will lead to skills upgrade for our youth
and subsequently enable their livelihoods,” Dr
Asamoah stated.

He said following the co-financing agreement, the
GSDI III would now expand to three additional
trade areas and two agricultural value chains.

Mr Hanna said: “Today is the beginning of a new
partnership between Ghana and the EU in the area
of skills development. Working together we are
investing in youth.”

Source - thefinderonline.com

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