8,000 JHS graduates to undergo apprenticeship

Thursday, September 13, 2012 (Page 48 Lead) THE Government will this year provide training to 8,000 Junior High School graduates across the country under the National Apprenticeship Programme (NAP). Beneficiaries will receive training in Information Communication Technology (ICT), building and construction, carpentry and joinery, garment making, cosmetology, electronics, auto mechanics, welding and fabrication. Consequently, the Minister of Education, Mr Lee Ocran, on behalf of President John Daramani Mahama, presented truckloads of tools needed for the project to Regional Ministers and their representatives at a short ceremony at the Ministry in Accra today. A total of 100 district assemblies were selected to benefit from the project which trained 5,000 youth last year. NAP is a scheme which seeks to impart skills to the youth particularly Junior High School graduates who for one reason or the other could not gain access to secondary education. The Council for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (COTVET) is providing the training with funding from the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund). A speech read on behalf of President Mahama by Mr Ocran directed that all technical and vocational institutions to receive accreditation from COTVET. He said those institutions were from now required to comply with COTVET’s regulations and standards in order to ensure trainees were properly equipped to meet the demands of a modern society. “Additionally, it will ensure that training institutions that do not meet the required standards are quickly put out of business,” the President said. He was of the view that providing high quality training which were standardized and regularized across the country will promote social mobility, enabling citizens to improve their economic situations through training and work among other advantages. The President urged the regional ministers to ensure that the tools were put to proper use for the benefit of the entire society. On his part, the Executive Director of COTVET, Dr Dan Baffour-Awuah, said the NAP had been on the drawing board since 2002 until September 2010 when it was implemented. He said the first batch of 5000 beneficiaries, who received training in 2011 were selected from 78 districts to receive training in garment making, cosmetology, electronics and construction. Dr Baffour-Awuah said the programme was extremely important for beneficiaries to receive life-long training from the programme.