Two of the top technical institutions in the country, Ghana Technical Training Centre (GTTC) and Accra Technical Training Centre (ATTC), were selected as early-bird beneficiaries of the West Africa Vehicle Academy (WAVA) project – an initiative aimed at developing and upgrading the skills and knowledge of trainees (training of trainers), and capacitating them to address the challenges of modern automotive services, diagnosis and repair.

This development is an indication that partnering the private sector in programmes development and curriculum planning is an option that cannot be downplayed in the quest for delivering an effective Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET).

Trainers and instructors of the auto-mechanical engineering departments of these two technical institutions, as well as other technical universities, participated in the training of trainers (ToT) sessions organised by WAVA to upgrade their skills and knowledge in handling all-new modern electro-mechanical vehicle – a significant exercise for curriculum improvement.

The significance of this initiative in retooling workshops and upgrading the curriculum of technical institutions all over the country using the aforementioned as a yardstick cannot be overemphasized, and if well implemented would yield massive results. Thus, providing fit-for-purpose or industry-ready graduates.

Similarly, there are many other sector programmes that TVET institutions offer with very low technologies, outmoded curricula and under-skilled trainers/ facilitators need, hence, the need to foster similar partnerships in other sectors.

This happening goes a long way to affirm the call of The African Center for Economic Transformation (ACET), for the private sector to be brought on board for educational curriculum development, especially, in the TVET sector to have a more skilled graduate pool.

The ACET report, which examined youth education, training, and employment, as well as skills, challenges and opportunities in six African countries: Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Ethiopia, Niger, Rwanda and Uganda, indicated that curricula development in Sub-Sahara African (SSA) countries tend not to reflect the changing nature of work, while teachers often lack adequate training and tools to provide young people with relevant skills.

In that report, it was revealed that Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire are traditionally based on focus with limited technology. Again, Ghana and Ethiopia have been identified to rarely engage the private sector in that regard.

With research showing that countries that involved the private sector and civil society in education and human resource development programmes are doing better in addressing graduate unemployment. This partnership is in at the right time, and the Committee for TVET (CTVET) must do everything possible to deepen this tie for an all-inclusive benefit.

WAVA – a joint venture of Bosch Automotive Aftermarket, Rana Motors, and German Development Cooperation GIZ – aimed at addressing the skills gap in the automotive sector is a good call to action for the industry; and all key stakeholders in education must be interested in tapping from this huge resource.

The Head of Cooperation of the German Embassy – Dorothee Dinkelaker, in her address at the WAVA launch emphasised the importance of needs-oriented training for the automotive sector leading to a skilled workforce and eventually to sustainable jobs, providing perspectives for young women and men.

“TVET has been at the core of German Ghanaian Cooperation for many years providing a holistic and demand-oriented TVET. During the last five years, German contribution to TVET committed more than 50 million euros supporting the reforms of the sector using different approaches.

Our support to the TVET sector aims at anchoring quality and practical relevance into the Ghanaian TVET system, taking into account the potential of the private sector and political stakeholders working together,” she said.

With the Team Leader, Development PPP Programme GIZ – Christian Wollnik, indicating that his outfit has several programmes within some specific TVET areas, training trainers, investing in infrastructure, developing curriculum and field internships, the CTVET must be engageable and even knocking on the doors of these willing-to-support organisations for collaboration and support.