Managers of the National Vocational Training Institutes (NVTI) has called on management of the NVTI to liase with universities and higher institutions of learning to arrange vacation and sandwich degree courses for them and their heads of departments.
They said having realized that one of their hindrances and threats from their competitors in the new technical, vocational and educational training (TVET) programme was the academic qualifications of some categories of staff, management should find a way as a matter of urgency to upgrade NVTI staff.
This was contained in a 13-point communiqué adopted at the end of a three-day conference of managers that started on Monday under the theme, "TVET-the key to youth development and poverty reduction", at Biriwa.
The communiqué, which was read by Mr Godwin Kudese, manager of the NVTI at Tamale, proposed that the rank of Assistant Director as pertained in the Ghana Education Service (GES) be extended to them and that all Principal Training Officers (PTO's) who have been on that rank for many years must also be promoted to the rank.
It also asked management to introduce annual bonus packages to reward other staff like the watchmen and women who have reached their upper limits on their scale and could not be promoted further.
The communiqué stressed the need to improve communication links and interaction between head office and the NVTI centres.
They appealed to the directorate to ensure that staff, equipment, handouts, textbooks and other teaching and training materials for the technical, vocational and educational training (TVET) programme be made available before the new programme took off in January next year.
It should publicize future admission trade test examination dates, release results and certificates as well as key events of NVTI in both the print and electronic media.
The communiqué called on management to extend the payment of end-of-year incentive packages to cover staff and managers at the centres as was previously done.
Mr Stephen Amponsah, the director of NVTI, said the directorate had granted 50 million cedis each to Obuohu Vocational and the Kumasi Business Centres both in the Ashanti Region for infrastructure development and other centres would benefit from the package soon.