That is according to the Member of Parliament (MP) for Kwesimintsim and Vice Chairman of the Select Committee on Education, Dr Prince Hamid Armah.

Contributing to a statement on the Floor of Parliament, Dr Armah said the jobs and skills project currently being implemented by the government will ensure the training of master craftsmen and women, as well as apprentices who will be supported financially to create jobs and to boost the economy.

Though TVET has the potential to transform Ghana’s economy, the Kwesimintsim lawmaker said governments over the years have paid little attention to the sector.

 “Mr Speaker, if you look at our school system, there are two pathways, the grammar type and the TVET sector. Yet we have focused attention over the years on the grammar type at the expense of TVET. There has been serious and significant investment in the grammar type without a commensurate investment in TVET,” he stated.

He noted that the resplendent attires worn by the lawmakers are handiworks of products of TVET and a lot could be achieved by them if they are given the needed support.

He said given the “pervasive influence” of TVET on the economy and its potential to address unemployment issues, it is important to strengthen the TVET service provision, something, he said the government has started doing.

“Quite remarkably the New Patriotic Party government, under the leadership of his Excellency Akufo-Addo has since 2017 initiated several policy interventions to address these problems,” he said.

He cited the passage of the Pre-tertiary Education Act, which he said will now streamline all activities of pre-tertiary TVET institutions and bring them under the Ministry of Education.

This will also help to ensure standardisation of all TVET education and certification, he pointed out.

Dr Armah, who is also the immediate past Director-General of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, cited the apparent confusion in the pathways for TVET as a major disincentive for students.

Unlike the grammar type students who have a clearer pathway right from primary, senior high, to tertiary, that of TVET is a little “checkered and cumbersome,” Dr Armah noted.

“There is the need for us to align the current national vocational training qualification to the national qualification training frame work for the grammar type so that there can be a direct link, so that if one decides to move from stenography into the grammar type school for example, you know exactly where the person can start from,” he stated.

He was happy the Education Ministry had initiated the process of developing a national qualification process to fill in the gaps.

The items, which include thirty bags of sugar, thirty cartons of milk, thirty cartons of tea and fifty assorted cartons of soft drinks, were presented to representatives from the various mosques in the constituency in a short ceremony on Monday, April 12, 2020.

The items were presented on behalf of the Member of Parliament by Mr Jerry Hanson, Constituency first vice chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Abubakar Ibrahim, deputy Nasara coordinator of the party in the constituency and other party stalwarts.

Presenting the items, Mr Hanson said the gesture was in support of the Muslim community as they embark on the month of fasting and prayer.

He said the donation was one of many ways in which Dr Armah will be supporting the community and pledged that the MP’s continued support and assistance to the community.

He asked Muslims in the constituency to pray for the constituency, the country and leaders at all levels so they can give off their best for the people.

Sheikh Abdul Rahman of the Kwesimintsim Central Mosque, who received the donation on behalf of the community, expressed his gratitude for the donation. The items are to be distributed to the all mosques in the constituency.

Ramadan is the ninth month in the Islamic calendar and is observed with fasting and prayer by all Muslim faithful around the world to commemorate Prophet Mohammed first receiving the Holy Quran.

The fasting is expected to commence on Tuesday April 13, 2021.