|The Role of Technical and Vocational Education in the Educational System in Ghana (UNEVOC, 1994, 46 p.)|
In Ghana, technical and vocational education and training is delivered at three levels: Basic Education, second-cycle and tertiary education levels. At the Basic Education level, technical and vocational education really starts from the Junior Secondary School. Technical and vocational education at the second-cycle level is provided in the Secondary Technical Schools, Technical Institutes, Vocational Schools/Training Centres and other post-basic education training institutions as well as in some of the initial Teacher Training colleges. Technical education at the tertiary level is delivered in the Universities, the Polytechnics and similar institutions.
In Ghana, the purpose of technical and vocational education at non-degree level is to provide young men and women with skills training (in addition to general education) in order to enable them to fulfil the country's technical manpower needs including self-employment up to the middle level in the field of industry, business and agriculture.
The objectives of technical and vocational education in Ghana include the following:
a) To expose pupils at the Basic Education level to a range of practical activities in the vocational filed in order to make them familiar with, and stimulate their interest in, vocational subjects and so give them equal opportunity to choose their future careers in either the technical or general field.
b) To equip students who have completed Basic Education with those occupational skills that will enable them to enter into gainful employment in industry and commerce.
c) To equip students with the relevant productive and entrepreneurial skills that will prepare them for self-employment.
d) To provide trained human resources in science, technology and commerce, matching supply of skilled labour with demand.
e) To provide personnel with the technical knowledge and vocational skills necessary for agricultural, industrial, commercial and economic development, while at the same time paying attention to environmental issues.
f) To give training and impart the necessary knowledge and skills to trained manpower leading to the provision of operatives, artisans, craftsmen, technicians and other middle-level technical personnel.
g) To enable the youth to have an intelligent understanding of the increasing complexity of science and technology through systematic exposure to modern technology.
h) To encourage the increased participation of women in education, training and employment in the technical field.
i) To provide a sound foundation for further education for those students who may wish to continue their education later in the context of lifelong education.
The delivery of technical and vocational education in Ghana has been facilitated by the enactment of various laws, including the following:
1. The Education Act, 1961 popularly known as the Compulsory Education Act, defined the publix system of education under primary and middle school education, and secondary education, and made education at the primary and middle level free and compulsory.
2. The National Vocational Training Act, 1970, in recognizing the need to emphasize the more practical aspects of training, provided for the establishment of a National Vocational training Institute (NVTI) under the Ministry of Employment and Social Welfare to perform certain specified functions including the follomwing:
a. organizing apprenticeship, in-plant training and training programmes for industrial and clerical workers, and training the instructors and training officers required for the purpose;
b. developing training standards and trade testing.
3. The Ghana Teaching Service Decree, 1974 (NRCD 247), was promulgated for the establishment of the Ghana Teaching Service to ensure effective management, supervision and inspection of pre-university educational institutions as well as the provision of teacher education, general education, special education (such as education of the handicapped), technical and business education in Ghana and the formulation of educational policies and programmes. The name Ghana Teaching Service was changed to Ghana Education Service in 1975 by the Ghana Teaching Service (Amendment Decree, 1975 (NRCD 357)
4. The Constitution of the Republic of Ghana, 1992 states, among other things, in Article 25 that "secondary education in its different forms, including technical and vocational education, shall be made generally available and accessible to all by every appropriate means, and particular, by the progressive introduction of free education; and in article 38 that "That State shall, subject to the availability of resources, provide:
a. equal and balanced access to secondary and other appropriate pre-university education, equall access to university or equivalent education, with emphasis on science and technology;
b. a free adult literacy programme, and a free vocational training rehabilitation and resettlement of disabled persons and
c. life-long education".
5. The Polytechnic Law, 1992 (PNDCL 317), promulgated in 1992, empowered the six Polytechnics in Ghana which were already in existence, to, among other things, provide technical education at the tertiary level.
Part from the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Employment and Social Welfare, which among other things, administer technical and vocational education and training, there are other government agencies and private organizations which are also engaged in technical and vocational education and training. See Appendix 'E' for examples of these)
Specifically, the responsibility of organizing and providing technical and vocational education and training at the craft and technician levels in the Technical Institutes under the Ministry of Education is vested in the Technical and Vocational Education Division of the Ghana Education Service.
The Technical and Vocational Education Division exercises a supervisory role over the technical and vocational institutions in the private sector.
The Division is also responsible for developing and reviewing curricula for technical and vocational education programmes, for conducting technical examinations, and for awarding the corresponding certificates.
The management of the technical and vocational institutions in the private sector is the responsibility of the individuals or the organizations of Churches that established them.
Technical education at the tertiary level, which is delivered at the Polytechnics and the University of Science and Technology, comes under the administration of the Tertiary Education Division of the Ministry of Education.