DRAFT TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND ...

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Dressmaking, Refrigeration and Air-conditioning, and Blocklaying and Concreting” (Duodu,
2006). The project provided training to master craftsmen and women and apprentices. In
addition, it made available modern working tools and equipment that were sold to
apprentices, participating institutions, master craftsmen and women and the trade associations
involved at low cost.
Department for International Development (DFID). DFID and other donors have
produced a Harmonisation Action Plan based on the Paris Declaration. DFID supports
sectoral programmes which includes education. TVET forms part of British development
assistance which includes budgetary support, but the GoG is left to decide how to use it and it
is expected that some of the funds would be used for TVET. DFID is concerned with skill
development in a broader sense than TVET.
International Labour Organisation (ILO). ILO-‘s Ghana’s involvement in TVET related to
the broad programme objective of Time Bound Programme for the Elimination of the Worst
Forms of Child Labour. ILO’s involvement is centred on (a) education depending upon age
and interest of the child, and (b) skills and vocational training.
International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD of the U.N.). The IFADsupported
Rural Enterprise Project is establishing and expanding self-employment
and micro-enterprise through vocational training and skill development interventions.
During the short field work for this review, NVTI reported that it was being assisted by the
Danish Hairdressers Association to develop CBT curricula and train hairdressers for
improved quality service delivery. The Danish group comes to Ghana for short periods to
conduct its programmes. Also, NVTI gets sponsorship from India and China for some of
their instructors to upgrade their skills for short periods in those countries.
2.6 Demand and Supply
The demand for TVET in Ghana is strong but the supply side is weak and has low capacity.
There is strong demand for skill training, especially at the artisan, craft, and technician levels.
This strong demand is due primarily to the size of the youthful population of Ghana and the
growing expansion in universal basic education. According to the 2000 population census the
0-14 year age group constituted 44.3% of the total population, and the growth rate was 2.7
(see Appendix B). As Junior High School enrolment has reached the 1.2 million level, it
means that on average about 400,000 young people will complete basic education each year
and must move on to Senior High School (SHS) or seek skill training for future employment.
About 65% of that number cannot enter SHS. Then there are the dropouts from basic and the
cumulated numbers from previous years whose options are skill training or entry into the
labour market without skills. Among those who complete SHS, only about 40% will enter the
university or the polytechnic; the rest must enter the labour market or seek some form of skill
training. The overwhelming demand for education and training at all levels has distorted the
difference between social demand for TVET and economic demand for TVET. Some
institutions talk of “demand-driven programmes” by which they mean programmes which
parents and students are willing to pay for.
One disturbing aspect of the demand for skill training is that the quality of basic academic
skills (literacy and numeracy) with which prospective trainees seek admission is very low, as
reported in the Education Sector Performance Report, 2008:
Thus, the effective level of literacy (e.g. proficiency in English on the NEA) achieved
is 26.1% of the 85% of the population that attained P6. This is 12.3%. Thus less