COUNCIL FOR TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING COTVET, GHANA

1. Danida Development Days 8 - 9 June 2009 1 COUNCIL FOR TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING (COTVET), GHANA PRESENTATION BY DANIEL BAFFOUR-AWUAH, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AT DANIDA DEVELOPMENT DAYS, COPENHAGEN 8 – 9 JUNE 2009

2. Danida Development Days 8 - 9 June 2009 2 PRESENTATION OUTLINE The Object of COTVET Specific Functions Our Goal Formal Public TVET Institutes in Ghana Informal Apprentice Training National TVET Qualifications Framework Recognition of Prior Learning Skills Development Fund Conclusion

3. Danida Development Days 8 - 9 June 2009 3 OBJECT OF THE COUNCIL The COTVET ACT (Act 718, 2006) was passed with the object to co-ordinate and oversee all aspects of technical and vocational education and training in the country.

4. Danida Development Days 8 - 9 June 2009 4 SPECIFIC FUNCTIONS Formulate national policies for skills development across the broad spectrum of pre-tertiary and tertiary education, formal informal and non-formal; Co-ordinate, harmonize and supervise the activities of private and public providers of technical and vocational education and training, including the informal sector

5. Danida Development Days 8 - 9 June 2009 5 SPECIF FUNCTIONS CONTINUED Rationalize the assessment and certification system in technical and vocational education and training Take measures to ensure quality in delivery of and equity in access to technical and vocational education and training Maintain a national database on technical, vocational education and training

6. Danida Development Days 8 - 9 June 2009 6 SPECIF FUNCTIONS CONTINUED Facilitate research and development in the technical and vocational education and training system; Source funding to support technical and vocational education and training activities Facilitate collaboration between training providers and industry to promote demand driven curriculum development and placement, and national internship programmes

7. Danida Development Days 8 - 9 June 2009 7 SPECIF FUNCTIONS CONTINUED Promote co-operation with international agencies and development partners; Issue annual reports on the state of skills development in the country; Advise Government on all matters related to the management and improvement of the technical and vocational education and training system

8. Danida Development Days 8 - 9 June 2009 8 OUR GOAL To ensure that the unemployed particularly the youth are given competitive, employable and entrepreneurial skills nationally and globally within the formal and informal sectors. To ensure that graduates coming out of our formal, informal and non-formal TVET institutions are endowed with employable and entrepreneurial skills.

9. Danida Development Days 8 - 9 June 2009 9

10. FORMAL PUBLIC TVET INSTITUTIONS Danida Development Days 8 - 9 June 2009 10

11. INFORMAL APPRENTICE TRAINING IN GHANA Informal apprenticeship training remains the largest provider of skills and is responsible for some 80-90% of all basic skills training in Ghana, compared to 5-10% from public training institutions and 10-15% from NGO for-profit and non-profit providers Danida Development Days 8 - 9 June 2009 11

12. INFORMAL APPRENTICE TRAINING Labor force data for Ghana in 2000 shows that there were 207,047 economically active persons (15 years and older) in apprenticeship training (GSS - Ghana Statistical Service, 2005), NVTI estimates there to be a much higher number than this; ‘not less than 500,000’ (NVTI Director) A senior member of the 2002 Anamuah-Mensah group indicated ‘no one in Ghana knows how many apprentices there are’ Danida Development Days 8 - 9 June 2009 12

13. INFORMAL APPRENTICE TRAINING (CURRENT SITUATION) Currently, about one of every three youth in the 20-30 age group has experience as an apprentice, compared to one in four youth fifteen years ago. The percentage of young women doing an apprenticeship has doubled in the last fifteen years (World Bank, 2008a). Danida Development Days 8 - 9 June 2009 13

14. EDUCATIONAL FRAGMENTATION Source, Palmer and Ahadzi Danida Development Days 8 - 9 June 2009 14

15. RELEVANCE INFORMAL APPRENTICE TRAINING Work based and practical, close link between training and production Allows for a gradual building up of informal enterprise network (eg suppliers, customers etc) More effective than formal pre-employment training Offers possibility of finding employment with their masters after graduation Danida Development Days 8 - 9 June 2009 15

16. QUALITY OF INFORMAL APPRENTICE TRAINING Finds it difficult to connect to technological advances Delivers training in enterprise of varying quality Provides trainees with little, if any theoretical understanding of the on-the-job process they learn Training-production balance is biased towards production Danida Development Days 8 - 9 June 2009 16

17. FUNDING OF INFORMAL APPRENTICE TRAINING Cost borne by apprentice and family members Made up of two types, commitment and graduation fees, paid at the start and graduation respectively Some trades require that the apprentices bring certain items before they start the training (eg carpentry {tool box}, dress making {own machine) Masters provide small amount on daily basis to cover feeding and sometimes transportation (chop money) Danida Development Days 8 - 9 June 2009 17

18. COSTING OF INFORMAL APPRENTICE TRAINING IN URBAN AREAS Danida Development Days 8 - 9 June 2009 18

19. Danida Development Days 8 - 9 June 2009 19 NATIONAL TVET QUALIFICATIONS FRAMEWORK

20. Danida Development Days 8 - 9 June 2009 20 NATIONAL TVET QUALIFICATIONS FRAMEWORK (Continued)

21. RECOGNITION OF PRIOR LEARNING (RPL) The acknowledgement through EVALUATION of a person’s skills and knowledge acquired through previous training, work or life experience, which may be used to grant credit in a unit standard” - MQA Danida Development Days 8 - 9 June 2009 21

22. Danida Development Days 8 - 9 June 2009 22 SKILLS DEVELOPMENT FUND The SDF is a challenge fund catering for the skills needs of the formal as well as the informal sector. It is being made available for pre-employment initiatives as well as initiatives addressing the needs of continuous skill upgrading.

23. PURPOSE OF THE SKILLS DEVELOPMENT FUND As a response to the private sector’s call for an adequately qualified labour force and Secondly, the urgency of providing new entrants to the labour market with gainful, employable skills. Danida Development Days 8 - 9 June 2009 23

24. BUDGET: SKILLS DEV FUND Danida Development Days 8 - 9 June 2009 24

25. SDF SUPPORT TO INFORMAL APPRENTICE TRAINING Orientation of master craft persons in improved pedagogies and entrepreneurial Payment of commitment fee for the rural poor in selected priority sectors Training materials for on the job training Start up kits Improve the perception of TVET Improve access Improve quality of delivery Cost sharing with parents Danida Development Days 8 - 9 June 2009 25

26. Danida Development Days 8 - 9 June 2009 26 CONCLUSION Highest commitment from Government, economic operators and local trade associations, parents Adequate resources Synergies between ongoing projects and programmes Highly motivated staff