CALL FOR MORE FUNDING FOR TECHNICAL INSTITUTES (PAGE 11, JAN 24, 2011)

THE Director in charge of Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET), Mr Isaac K. Y. Ebeh, has called for more funding for technical institutions to enable them come out with products that would contribute meaningfully to national development.
“About one per cent of the Ghana Education Service (GES) budget to TVET does not portray any seriousness to technical and vocational education, while poor infrastructure development at the polytechnics and the universities that provide TVET at the tertiary levels are massive to the disadvantage of technical institutes”, Mr Ebeh stated.
He said most of the technical institutes were housed in structures that looked like abandoned farm houses with obsolete machinery and equipment in dilapidated workshops. This, he noted, undermined the relevance of such institutions to the country’s progress.
Speaking at the golden jubilee anniversary of the Koforidua Technical Institute (KOTEC) in Koforidua at the weekend, Mr Ebeh stated that “other countries we turn to for loans, grants and equipment are not naturally endowed like Ghana but have strategically invested in the TVET sector, which has become their tool for national development”.
“Since returns in the investment of TVET are manifold, we must also as a nation adopt a more pragmatic approach and commit adequate funding and make TVET relevant to our national development,” he stated.
The director said TVET was a requisite tool for national development that must be acquired and sharpened adequately to enable products of such institutions to contribute to the country’s development.
“Unfortunately, reports available show that most graduates from technical institutes do not acquire the relevant skills and knowledge and therefore, cannot be expected tools for national development”, he stated.
“Technical and vocational institutions should necessarily be the foundation of TVET, without which engineers and other high calibre technologists may not achieve the desired development goals,” Mr Ebeh stated.
The outgoing Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, expressed the government’s commitment to resource technical and vocational institutions to enable them to function more effectively to produce the right calibre of products for national development.
Earlier, the Headmaster of the Institute, Mr Eric E. O. Gyamera, said the lack of a wall, an administrative block, staff bungalows, assembly hall and adequate water supply were some of the challenges facing the school and called on the government and other stakeholders to help tackle the problems.