By
Mildred Siabi-Mensah, GNA
Takoradi, Oct. 22, GNA – The Western Region
Coastal Foundation (WRCF) in collaboration with the National Board for
Professional and Technical Examinations (NABPTEX), has launched the first ever
Developing Industry Standards Conference in Takoradi.
The conference, themed “Developing Skills and
Standards for Industry”, is a two-day programme that seeks to address the
skills and capacity gaps in the extractive and manufacturing industries,
devising a framework for the setting up of programmes for developing capacity
in Training Institutions, Training and Testing Centres, and On-The-Job
training, to manage the employment needs of the extractive and allied Industry.
Mr Oswald Felli, the Communication Manager for
WRCF, told the Ghana News Agency that at a time when the Government was looking
to the oil and gas sector to meet local content requirements, achieving these
targets posed a challenge as there were many skilled workers who did not meet
industry standards.
He stated that needs assessment of Ghana’s
Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) system, sponsored by Global
Affairs Canada in 2016, revealed that the TVET system has not blended well with
Industry.
Therefore, effective relationships between
Industry, Government and technical institutes needed to be built to align needs
to training policy in order to have job-ready graduates from technical
institutes.
Mr Felli said the conference would become an
annual platform for stakeholders to engage on issues affecting TVET and ways to
channel policy to address the gap.
The CEO of WRCF, Mr. Matthew Armah, said “Our
focus is to use dialogue to improve the relevance of training to industry, and
identify improvements to bridge the gap between the supply of skills and demand
for skilled workers. Therefore, WRCF hopes that this conference gives
stakeholders the opportunity to broaden discussions and provide input that
helps shape policy to tackle the core issues.”
Mr Armah added he was “excited to see a
diverse group of people in attendance, which made “discussions spirited and
thought provoking” adding, “This has led us to some compelling recommendations
to drafting a roadmap towards the implementation of Industry standards.”
Over 150 participants from Industry, academia,
Government from across the country converged at Takoradi to engage and
contribute to help government build strong institutional frameworks and enhance
current skills set towards its goal of making Ghana a hub for skills
development and TVET delivery in Africa.
Various Speakers including the Deputy Minister of Education in charge of
TVET, Ms. Barbara Asher Ayisi; the Deputy Minister of Energy, Hon. Joseph
Cudjoe; the Executive Secretary of the National Council for Tertiary Education,
Prof. Mohammed Salifu; and other distinguished personalities from Industry
deliberated on Industry Standards ad Skills Development; Industry and the
capacity of TVET Institutions among other themes.
The Western Region Coastal Foundation (WRCF)
is an innovative entity that convenes and encourages effective dialogue between
oil, gas, and power (OGP) companies, other extractive industry actors, local
communities, and the government in the six coastal districts of Ghana’s Western
Region, to identify and resolve issues facing these communities.
WRCF leverages stakeholder financial and
in-kind contributions and corporate social investments to address stability and
socio-economic development concerns of communities.
Through its seeded platform, the Technical
Centre of Excellence, WRCF offers companies interested in skills development
the opportunity to leverage its Corporate Social Investment – Skills Programme
to sponsor local artisans as part of their CSR initiatives.
GNA