Mrs Barbara Asher Ayisi, the Deputy Minister in-charge of Technical and Vocational Education, said government had constituted reform committees including inter-agency committee, staff rationalisation committee, legislation committee and conditions of service committee to implement the plan.

She said Cabinet had approved a five-year strategic plan for TVET with the goal of transforming the country’s labour force to create employment and enhance productivity.

Cabinet has also approved the realignment of all technical and vocational institutions to the Ministry of Education and amendment of legislation for the Council of TVET, National Vocational Training Institute and the National Board for Professional and Technical Examinations, she said.

TMrs Ayisi said this in Accra on Wednesday at a stakeholder’s workshop on the Implementation Plan for TVET Reforms.She noted that as part of the roadmap, government had developed a scheme or condition of service for staff of TVET among other things.

Mrs Ayisi explained that the staff rationalisation was to collate data of all the staff of the institutions to realign to the TVET scheme.She said the legislation committee was to ensure the completion of draft bills for the establishment of the TVET and amendment of the Council for TVET Act.

Mrs Ayisi expressed concern about the perception that technical education was reserved for students with little academic performance, urging teachers to re-orient that notion and encouraged students to take up vocational courses.She said a strong technical and vocational background would enhance the skills of the country’s human resource and create job employment for the teeming youth.

Dr Fred Kyei Asamoah, the Executive Director of TVET, said technical and vocational institutions had great potential for enhancing the country’s economy, but till date there was so much left to be done to make the sector viable for economic growth.According to him, the TVET landscape in the country was fragmented with negative implications for overall system governance, development and coordination for efficiency, quality and relevance of training.

He said TVET is confronted with challenges such as poor linkage between training institutions and industry, multiplicity of standards, testing and certification systems and poor perception of the profession.

Dr Asamoah said the realignment of TVET under the Ministry of Education would ensure effective management, coordination and cohesion in training institutions in the country.