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Mr Abdul Fatah Maigah Mahama, the Deputy Director-General (Management Services) at the Ghana TVET Service, says Ghana stands at a decisive moment in its development journey, one that calls for a shift from degrees, dexterity and credentials to competencies.
He said the true measure of a country’s strength lay not in its skylines, but the skills of its people such as artisans, technicians, innovators and entrepreneurs who shaped its destiny.
“The evolution of our Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) system is not simply an educational reform; it is an economic revolution in motion,” he indicated. Sharing his thoughts on skills and competence with the Ghana News Agency in Kumasi, Mr Mahama cited countries like Japan, Singapore, and South Korea that had proven industrial growth not only through theory, but also by technical mastery. “Their stories mirror what Ghana must now embrace, that a skilled population is a self-reliant one,” he advocated.
Mr Mahama said he had witnessed at first-hand how empowering the youth through hands-on learning transformed not just livelihoods, but mindsets. He said the inauguration of the Dr John Kofi Turkson Memorial Skills Development Centre at Cape Coast in the Central Region was a bold reflection of this national awakening. He said the Center was more than a training facility and stood as a living monument to purpose, perseverance, and possibility, adding that it embodied “our collective belief that Ghana’s development will be crafted not imported.”
Accredited by the Commission for TVET (CTVET) the Centre offered Competency-Based Training programmes tailored to industry needs, equipping young Ghanaians with practical skills that translate directly into employment and entrepreneurship, he said.
Mr Mahama explained that through free tuition, accommodation, and modern workshops, it removed financial barriers that often dimmed young dreams. The Deputy Director-General said with Ghana’s youth unemployment presently at 21.7 per cent and only a fraction of the 380,000 young job seekers each year securing employment, the question was no longer whether Ghana needed TVET, it was how fast it could be scaled up.
He said the Ghana TVET Service, in close partnership with the CTVET, National Youth Authority, and private sector stakeholders, continued to align skills training with market demands. “Through the National Apprenticeship Programme, launched with GH?300 million in government funding, and the forthcoming TVET Fund, we are building sustainable pathways for young people to learn, earn, and lead,” he disclosed.
Mr Mahama said the results were already visible with learners who once stood uncertain at life’s crossroads now running their own workshops, employing others, and giving hope where it once seemed lost.
