Over 100 TVET institutions included in CSSPS

Dr Fred Kyei Asamoah, Director General, Commission for Technical Vocational Education and Training (CTEVT) says over 100 TVET institutions have been included in this year’s Computerized School Placement System (CSSPS) for selection by Junior High School graduates.

He also said there were over 120,000 vacancies available in TVET schools for this academic year and that admission into the TVET institutions was expected to rise considerably.

Dr Asamoah said this when he engaged the media in Accra to outline the programmes and activities of the Commission for the year.

He asked parents of JHS graduates to encourage their wards to consider TVET programmes because they were designed to equip SHS leavers with practical skills for the job market.

He said the government had made a lot of investment in upgrading TVET institutions with state-of-the-art logistics and asked them to take advantage of the opportunity.

Dr Asamoah said there were opportunities for those who completed their accredited TVET programmes to continue from the National Proficiency level through to the Doctor of Technology level.

Dr Asamoah also touted the success of the government’s first five-year strategic plan for TVET, which he said was helping to transform skills development and training in the country.

He said the strategic plan was intended to transform TVET sector and establish strong links between industry, TVET providers and academia.

He explained that apart from the establishment of the Commission for TVET and TVET Service, the government was also creating the Sector Skills Bodies in 22 identified economic sectors, adding that so far, 12 of the Sector Skills Bodies had already been created and inaugurated.

Dr Asamoah also stated that to address the issues of a skills mismatch between training institutions and industry, the government conducted a skills gap analysis and audit of ten economic sectors.

He said the survey was critical in a time of accelerated technological development when industries globally kept on transforming with TVET being at the centre of providing the skills needed for industries, employability and enhancement of livelihoods.

Dr Asamoah also stated that the analysis and audit findings had contributed to the work of the Sector Skills Bodies to help with the generation and upgrading of standards within the Competency-Based Training (CBT) Framework.

He said the gap in the curriculum was also being addressed under the Ghana Jobs and Skills Project, which was expected to develop 100 CBT packages from level one (proficiency) to level five (high national diploma) of the national TVET qualification framework.

He said the government had invested hugely in TVET sector over the last five years by upgrading and modernising all the former 34 National Vocational and Technical Institutes’ Head Offices together with 10 regional offices, and five apprenticeship offices across the country.