Ghana

SKILLS State of

Ghana

SKILLS State of

Table of contents

The socio-economic context 7

Development and employment policies 12

The skills system in Ghana 16

Skills anticipation 28

Skills development 30

Social inclusion 38

Lifelong learning 44

Key challenges 46

The way forward 50

Sources 54

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6

The socio-economic context

Ghana achieved the key Millennium Development Goals of halving extreme poverty and reaching universal primary education and gender parity at the primary level by 2015. The country’s good economic performance has been boosted by favourable trends in global commodity prices. Notwithstanding, it faces the challenge of further diversifying its economy to reduce the reliance on oil, gas and mining products, while also increasing productivity and competitiveness. Skills development has a key role to play in that regard and is an essential condition for growth that is more balanced, sustainable and inclusive economic.

7

Ghana’s population growth has been decreasing, which has moved the country to a better position from which to advance its socio-economic development.

The country’s current population is estimated at 30.1 million, up from the 24.2 million recorded by the 2010 census. Population growth has been decreasing in recent years, dropping from 3 per cent in 1985 to 2.2 per cent in 2018. The age dependency ratio, calculated as the proportion of children under 15 years of age and elderly people over 65 years of age in the working-age population, started to decrease earlier and more rapidly than in other sub-Saharan African countries and stood at around 68 per cent in 2018. This puts the country in an advantageous position for fostering socio-economic development, but it also implies a growing demand for lifelong learning and decent work opportunities.

Ghana is experiencing dynamic economic growth, increasingly driven by non-oil sectors.

From 2010 to 2013, Ghana’s economy, in terms of gross domestic product (GDP), grew at an annual average rate of 9.6 per cent, largely driven by the start of offshore oil and gas production. After slumping to 2.1 per cent in 2015, growth bounced back to 8.1 per cent in 2017 and 6.2 per cent in 2018, driven mainly by the oil and mining sectors. The growth estimate for 2019 is 7.6 per cent, with non-oil growth expected to accelerate to 6 per cent as the Government’s new policies in the agriculture sector and the promotion of agribusiness begin to take effect. In 2020, growth is expected to reach 6.8 per cent (AfDB, 2019a; World Bank, 2019).

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The country’s economy, however, remains driven by the services sector, which contributed 42.3 per cent of Ghana’s total GDP in 2017 and represented 47.1 per cent of total employment.

Agriculture is the second largest contributor to the country’s economy. In 2017, it accounted for 19.7 per cent of GDP and 34.3 per cent of total employment. Smallholder farming systems with low productivity are predominant in the sector. Despite these challenges, the country is the second largest producer of cocoa in the world. Cocoa and its products are among Ghana’s top exports and, in 2017, accounted for 19 per cent of total exports, after mining products, such as gold and diamonds (36 per cent), and oil products (31 per cent). The agricultural sector is also a major source of inputs for the manufacturing sector, which contributes 10.9 per cent of GDP. The World Bank counts agribusiness among the market segments that have growth and employment-creation potential, such as renewable energy, finance, education, information and communications technology, transport and health (World Bank, 2017, 2019).

Sustained economic growth over the past three decades has helped to reduce extreme poverty.

The proportion of the population living below the national poverty line ($1.90 per person per day) fell from 47.4 per cent in 1991 to 13.3 per cent in 2016 (Word Bank Group, 2019). Considerable achievements are being made in the provision of free schooling, textbooks and meals to students, and a health insurance scheme for the country and other pro-poor interventions, financed notably through oil and gas revenues, continue to sustain the downward trend in poverty rates. However, over the same period, income inequalities have been growing. In three northern savannah regions, rural dwellers and food crop farmers are among the most excluded from the benefits of economic prosperity.

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Economic growth has not led to corresponding employment creation.

In 2017, the labour force participation rate stood at 57 per cent, with the rate for women slightly lower, at 55 per cent. According to the ILO definition, the unemployment rate was around 4.2 per cent, reaching 9.1 per cent for youth. The lack of decent work opportunities, however, is better captured by the high rates of informal employment (around 90 per cent) and time-related underemployment (affecting 13.1 per cent of the employed population) and the high share of young people (aged 15–24) who are not in employment, education or training (30.5 per cent) (ILO, 2019).

Over the past two decades, Ghana has been pursuing an ambitious educational reform programme aimed at providing better and more equitable access to inclusive quality education at all levels.

Government spending on education has been increasing since 2000 and now represents around 20 per cent of total government expenditure, higher than the regional average. As a result, the adult literacy rate increased from 57.9 per cent in 2000 to 79 per cent in 2019. Secondary school enrolment was around 58 per cent in 2018. The introduction of free upper secondary education in 2017 led to an increase of over 90,000 enrolments in upper secondary schools between 2017 and 2018 (UNESCO, 2019).

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Levels of educational attainment among the working-age population remain low, leading to significant skills gaps, especially in agriculture and technical occupations. Graduate unemployment and overqualification in elementary and clerical occupations (see Figure 1) hint at the prevalence of skills mismatches (Sparreboom and Gomis, 2015).

0 20 40 60 80 100 120

Elementary occupations

Plant and machine operators

Craft and related trade workers

Skilled agricultural and fishery workers

Service/sales workers

Clerical support workers

Technicians and associate professionals

Professionals

Legislators/managers

Qualifications mismatch, percentage of non-vulnerable employment by major occupational group and sex, 2012

Underqualified Overqualified Correctly matched

Figure 1. Skills gaps and mismatch in Ghana. Qualifications mismatch, percentage of non-vulnerable employment by major occupational group and sex, 2012.

Source: Sparreboom and Gomis, 2015 (p. 44).

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Development and employment policies

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Ghana’s development policy is detailed in the Coordinated Programme of Economic and Social Development Policies 2017–2024, entitled An Agenda for Jobs: Creating Prosperity and Equal Opportunity for All, and the Medium-Term National Development Policy Framework (MTDF) 2018–2021. These documents are underpinned by the “Ghana Beyond Aid” vision, which sees Ghana as a prosperous and self-reliant country, and are linked to a series of sectoral policies and strategies.

Priority sectors for economic transformation as defined in the MTDF include agriculture, industry, tourism and creative arts and industries. Education and skills development feature prominently among the action areas of the plan, with the aim to “Enhance inclusive and equitable access to and participation in quality education at all levels”. A major flagship initiative of the MTDF that targets young generations is the abolition of tuition fees at upper secondary education level, both in general secondary education and formal technical vocational education and training (TVET) (NDPC, 2017).

Employment in agriculture is expected to continue to decrease, as the sector develops and productivity grows. This will release many agricultural workers, particularly unskilled workers, who will need to up-skill if they are to find new jobs in the expanding services and manufacturing sectors (AfDB, 2019b). A range of sectoral policies specifically address the issue of skills development for industry and services, for instance the Ghana Automotive Development Policy and the National Tourism Development Plan 2013–2027. Moreover, the National Employment Policy of 2015 focuses on vocational and technical skills development in relation to other employment issues, such as productivity improvement, entrepreneurial development and private sector competitiveness.

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“Educational Rights (1) All persons shall have the right to equal educational opportunities and facilities and With a view to achieving the full realization of that right— (b) 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 in particular, by the progressive introduction of free education.”

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– Constitution of the Republic of Ghana

Article 25

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The skills system in Ghana

16

TVET reform policies

The MTDF 2018–2021 defines the main challenges to be addressed in relation to TVET. These include the fragmentation of the skills system, with provision spread across multiple providers in the formal and informal economies and policy-making and management spread across ten ministries with different enabling acts and mandates. The MTDF acknowledges the fact that “for a large section of the youth, the informal economy remains the dominant avenue for skills acquisition” but also that “apprenticeship in the informal economy is characterised by lack of common standards and proficiency certification” (NDPC, 2017, p. 50). Policies to address these challenges are detailed in the Education Strategic Plan (ESP) 2018–2030 (MoE, 2018).

Development of the ESP was the responsibility of the Ministry of Education (MoE), but the policy-making process involved various stakeholders and international partners (see annex to the ESP). The MoE is now responsible for the implementation of the ESP. A monitoring and evaluation framework and a communication strategy have been defined to ensure transparency and accountability. Based on the ESP, the costs of TVET are projected to increase by around 4 per cent annually, representing between 4 and 6 per cent of total education costs. At the time when the ESP was adopted, there was still a financing gap to be filled in order to meet the targets of the ESP.

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Following the ESP, a Strategic Plan for TVET Transformation 2018–2022 was developed by the Council for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (COTVET) with the main goal of strengthening the link between TVET and the labour market. The plan defines policy objectives and strategies in five key areas:

• Governance and management of TVET: To continue the realignment of TVET institutions under the MoE, establish new sector skills councils, establish an apex training institution for TVET staff and further strengthen the capacities of COTVET.

• Increased access: To conduct a skills gaps analysis, implement needs assessments of existing TVET institutions, establish 20 new TVET institutions, implement the recognition of prior learning and improve the image of TVET.

• Improving quality: To effectively promote the competency-based training policy and strengthen the capacity of the qualifications and awarding bodies for assessment and certification.

• TVET financing: To complete the establishment of the Ghana Skills Development Fund.

• Environmental sustainability: To conduct a piloting phase for the integration of greening philosophies into TVET curricula, workplace practices and communities.

This strategic plan is closely linked to the COTVET Corporate Strategic Plan 2017–2021, which sets objectives and indicators for COTVET’s contribution to the transformation of the TVET system.

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Governance

TVET governance reform in Ghana is characterized by the numerous attempts to tackle the challenge of fragmentation. In accordance with the ESP 2018–2030, the Government decided to align all TVET institutions under the umbrella of the MoE. Until then, about ten different ministries were managing their own TVET systems without any coordination regarding qualifications, curricula, etc. (see Table 1). The institutional reform process is still under way, which means that TVET currently remains highly fragmented, with many structures responsible for various different training centres.

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Ownership Type of institutions Number

1 Ministry of Education GES Technical Institutions 47

2Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations

• National Vocational Training Institute Centres• Integrated Community Centres for

Employable Skills (ICCES)• Opportunities Industrialization Centres

34 62 3

3 Ministry of Youth and Sports Youth Leadership Training Centres 11

4 Ministry of Trade and Industry

• National Board for Small Scale Industries Business Advisory Centres

• Rural Training Facilities• Ghana Regional AppropriateTechnology

Industrial Service (GRATIS)

16115

9

5

Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology

• Suame Intermediate Technology Transfer Unit (ITTU)

• Suame Magazine Automatics Technical Institute (SMATI)

1

1

6 Ministry of Food and Agriculture

Agricultural Training Institutions (Farm Institutes - Adidome, Asuasi and Wenchi) 8

7

Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection 

Social Welfare Training CentresBorstal Homes 18

8Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development

Community Development Centres 24

9 Ministry of Roads and Transport

Roads and Transport Training Centre (Kaneshie , Accra) 1

10Ministry of Tourism, Arts  and Culture

Ghana Tourism AuthorityHotel, Catering and Training Institute (HOTCATT)  4

11 Private TVET Private institutions, NGOs, FBOs, Private individuals 400+

Table 1. Major institutions responsible for TVET provision and regulation.

Source: Compiled from COTVET (2018): Draft Strategic Plan for TVET Transformation 2018 – 2022: p. 19-21.

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Provision of education and training under the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations (MELR) is the largest provider of public formal TVET. The Ministry manages three categories of institutions: Vocational Training Institutes (VTIs) of the National Vocational Training Institute (NVTI), 34 centres; Integrated Community Centres for Employable Skills (ICCES), 63 centres; and Opportunities Industrialisation Centres (OICs), 3 centres.

NVTI is both a provider and a testing and certification body. NVTI’s activities are backed by a legal framework (NVTI Act, 1970) that is the oldest legal framework for TVET provision in the country. The Institute has a Board which makes it semi-autonomous from its parent Ministry. The NVTI conducts apprenticeship training and Instructor and Master Craftsperson training. Apprenticeship training is provided in two environments: school-based and workshop-based VTIs cover 28 skill areas. NVTI conducts tests and gives awards at Proficiency I & II, Trade Test Certificate I & II, and National Craft Certificate (NCC).

Other Ministries manage TVET delivery institutions. There have been some recent changes in the involvement of other Ministries in TVET. The Social Welfare Training Centres were moved from the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations to the Ministry of Gender Children and Social Protection in 2013. The Hotel, Tourism and Catering Institute was absorbed by the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA).

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In the new TVET governance system, COTVET plays a central role. COTVET was set up through the COTVET Act (no. 718) in 2006 and given the task of developing strategic policies for Ghana’s TVET sector. In 2012, a legislative instrument (LI 2195) was passed by Parliament to operationalize the COTVET Act.

COTVET operates as an agency under the MoE and is governed by a 15-member board. The board includes representatives from the MoE and other sectoral ministries, a TVET expert, two representatives of employers’ organizations, one representative of workers’ organizations, one representative of the Institution of Incorporated Engineers, two representatives of private TVET providers and two persons who are nominated by the President.

The board is supported by three technical standing committees:

• the National TVET Qualifications Committee;

• the Industrial Training Advisory Committee;

• the Training Quality Assurance Committee.

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Social dialogue

Tripartism is institutionalized at different levels in the TVET system. As well as being members of COTVET’s governing board, trade unions and employers’ associations are represented on the board of directors of the National Vocational Training Institute (NVTI), which itself is advised on policy-making matters by the National Apprenticeship Council, the National Clerical Training Council and the National Trade Testing Committee. These councils and committee are tripartite in composition and are made up of representatives of government, the Ghana Employers’ Association and the Ghana Trades Union Congress.

Under the “Strategic Plan for TVET Transformation 2028-2022” Ghana is establishing sector skills councils (SSCs) to contribute to the definition of standards for competence-based training. SSCs are industry-led, with representation from professional associations, trade unions, employers’ associations, business networks and large employers, but also have representatives from the informal sector and relevant ministries and agencies. The ILO’s SKILL-UP Programme (funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs) has supported, in collaboration with GIZ, the establishment of three SSCs, in the construction, tourism and agriculture sectors (GSDI, 2019).

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In the informal economy, trade associations are key stakeholders in the coordination of skills training and in ensuring the quality of training in the informal apprenticeship system. The Federation of Professional Trade Associations in Ghana serves as the umbrella body for the 20 or so different trade associations in eight trade areas, including garment-making, cosmetology, automotive engineering and electrical installation. Some of these professional trade associations also have umbrella organizations, such as the Council of Indigenous Business Associations, which has over 2.4 million members in its affiliates, comprising the Ghana Hairdressers and Beauticians Association, the Ghana National Tailors and Dressmakers Association, the Ghana Co-operative Bakers Association, the Federation of Ghanaian Jewellers and the National Association of Refrigeration Mechanics. Another key player for TVET in the informal economy is the Ghana National Association of Garages, which brings together practitioners of trades in the automobile industry, encompassing welders, mechanics, electricians, blacksmiths, upholsters, auto-paint technicians, etc. In addition to these, a more embracing umbrella organization for informal sector trade associations is the Association of Small Scale Industries, with over 30 sectoral associations encompassing, among others, carpenters, masons and metalworkers.

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Financing

TVET in Ghana relies on three main sources of funding: budgetary allocations, contributions from development partners and tuition fees (budgetary allocations and partners’ contributions are both treated as government funding). Budgetary allocations to education represented around 20 per cent of total government expenditure in 2017. However, only a small part of these funds went to the TVET subsector (less than 4 per cent), and mainly to pay the wages of TVET staff. The policy of free upper secondary education has generated important additional costs, which will continue to grow as enrolment rates increase. There have been recurring warnings highlighting the consequences of chronic underfinancing of TVET on the quantity and quality of skills development (GAC, 2016; NDPC, 2017).

In addition to the MoE budget for TVET, government funding for skills development is provided through programmes promoting entrepreneurship or youth employment, such as the Local Entrepreneurship and Skills Development Programme in 2010 and the Youth Employment Agency (YEA; previously the Ghana Youth Employment and Entrepreneurial Development Agency and then the National Youth Employment Programme). In recent years, various skills development and TVET reform initiatives have been funded by international partners.

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In 2010, the Skills Development Fund (SDF) was established, receiving funds from the World Bank and, later, from Denmark’s development cooperation agency (DANIDA). The SDF distributes funds on the basis of a challenge call to ensure that skills provision is demand-driven. It already funded training for more than 8,200 individuals through 238 grants in the first three years, disbursing around $10 million in total.

Following the ending of tuition fees in general secondary education, the Government has also decided to abolish tuition fees in TVET, starting in 2020. The provision of apprenticeships in the informal economy is mainly financed by employers; apprentices receive so-called “chop money”, which usually exceeds the fees taken by masters at the beginning (commitment fees) or end (graduation fees) of the training (Breyer, 2006). Several programmes have been implemented over time to support apprenticeships in the informal economy.

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Skills anticipation

Ghana does not yet have a well-performing skills anticipation system. Sector skills councils are expected to contribute to improving the analysis and forecasting of skills needs at sectoral level, but there are insufficient organizational structures and human resources to centralize the information and provide evidence for making TVET more responsive to current and future skills needs.

Labour market information in Ghana is currently fragmented, with data being collected by a number of organizations and institutions. These include the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), the Ghana Immigration Service, the Ministry of the Interior, the MoE and private employment agencies. The Ghana Labour Market Information System (GLMIS) – a system to collect data from different sources and make them accessible to the public – has been recently launched.

The GSS has introduced a series of Labour Force Reports, which are a potential source of data for evaluating the efficiency of the TVET system. However, they present data on unemployment by educational attainment, but do not fully disaggregate TVET graduates from other types of graduates.

The Education Management Information System (EMIS), which has existed since 2002, covers TVET, but only where it is under the responsibility of the MoE; TVET institutions that depend on other ministries are excluded. Furthermore, the EMIS data are limited, as they do not capture retention and progression or levels of attainment of TVET qualifications, and do not differentiate between types and levels of TVET.

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Skills development

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The share of students in upper secondary education enrolled in vocational programmes reached almost 7 per cent in 2018 (3.7 per cent for female and 10 per cent for male students), which corresponded to a total of 72,000 students (UNESCO, 2019). These numbers, however, do not capture all skills development activities in the country, as they do not include, for instance, informal and non-formal training provision. The number of apprentices in the informal sector is estimated at around 400,000. In addition, in 2015, more than 52,000 students (34.3 per cent of whom were women) were enrolled in polytechnics, which offer vocational programmes at post-secondary and tertiary levels (GSS, 2017).

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Formal training

Formal TVET is provided in several different types of institution, following completion of basic education (primary and lower secondary school). Technical and vocational training institutes under the responsibility of the Ghana Education Service (GES; overseen by the MoE) are the largest providers of training. Assessment is conducted by the National Board for Professional and Technician Examinations and the Technical Education Unit of the GES. After three years, students are given a National Certificate II.

Formal TVET is also provided in training centres belonging to the NVTI (affiliated to the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations’ as well as by private providers and other public providers accredited by the NVTI. Although COTVET is now developing curricula and qualifications and emerging as an accreditation body, the NVTI qualifications are still being delivered. NVTI also conducts assessment and certification processes.

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Formal TVET combines theoretical courses with practical workshop training. Graduates have the option of moving up to a polytechnic for further education and training at post-secondary level. A major criticism of formal TVET is that it does not deliver the skills needed in real workplaces. Outdated curricula, poorly equipped workshops, lack of qualified and industry-experienced staff and inadequate pedagogies are the most commonly stated reasons for poor quality and lack of relevance in training programmes. Learning outcomes are poor; for instance, on average, only 30 per cent of students successfully take the Technician I examinations (MoE, 2018). Accordingly, TVET reforms include a wide range of measures for improving the delivery and assessment of training. For example, curricula are being revised based on a competency-based training approach and with a focus on occupational skills. Teacher training is also to be improved, for example through the development of the College of Technology Education, Kumasi, which will become the central TVET teacher and trainer education centre for the country. Finally, TVET institutions shall be encouraged to develop short and part-time courses that respond to the local demands of the labour market (MoE, 2018).

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Informal training

A large proportion of the young population in Ghana are trained in the informal sector. Although there are no official statistics, it is estimated that more than 400,000 apprentices are currently enrolled in informal training, even though the number might have been decreasing in recent years. Apprenticeships in the informal economy are not controlled by the Government, but trade associations play an informal regulatory role in this training system. There are no written curricula, no formal assessments or certification procedures, and master craftspersons (MCPs) are not appointed by any legal entities. The average duration of training is 36 months.

There have been several attempts to upgrade informal apprenticeships in Ghana. Between 1995 and 2001, the Vocational Skills and Informal Sector Support Project upgraded, with support from the World Bank, the skills of MCPs in five trade areas and provided supplementary short courses (12 weeks) to 14,565 apprentices. Training MCPs in the informal sector is one of the interventions foreseen by the TVET transformation strategy, with 800 MCPs already trained, according to COTVET (2019). The NVTI currently provides formal recognition of skills developed in informal apprenticeships. It organizes trade tests at different proficiency levels and in a wide range of occupations.

34

Since 2013, Ghana has run a modernized apprenticeship scheme, the Collaborative Apprenticeship Training (CAT) system, which has been progressively extended to cover new occupations and regions. In the CAT system, work-based learning is complemented with structured courses at training institutions, based on competence-based standards and learning materials. At the workplace, MCPs use guidelines to ensure that apprentices receive a comprehensive training in their trade. Assessments at the end of training correspond to levels I and II of the National TVET Qualifications Framework (NTVETQF). Trade associations and umbrella organizations, such as the Federation of Professional Trade Associations in Ghana, the Association of Small-Scale Industries and the Association of Ghana Industries, are closely involved in this project, to ensure it meets the demands of the labour market. As the project is mostly financed by international donors, is not yet clear how sustainable the CAT system will be.

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Skills recognition and quality assurance

Despite ongoing reforms, Ghana’s skills recognition and quality assurance system is still characterized by fragmentation. Skills recognition and quality assurance are governed by the NVTI Act (no. 351) of 1970 and the National Vocational Training Board Regulations, 1978 (LI 1151), which are applied in parallel with occupational qualifications and curricula developed by COTVET over recent years.

COTVET oversees the NTVETQF and is in charge of the accreditation of public and private training providers. As of March 2019, COTVET had accredited 268 training providers to deliver training for one or more certificates based on the NTVETQF. The NTVETQF describes TVET qualifications and classifies them to different competence levels on the basis of what learners are expected to know, understand and be able to do. It has eight levels, with the first two levels (Proficiency 1 and 2) dedicated mostly to the assessment and recognition of skills delivered in informal apprenticeships.

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Social inclusion

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Accessing skills development

Poverty, gender and disability are major barriers for vulnerable groups wishing to take part in TVET. As these are widely acknowledged in Ghana, many programmes and strategies have been established to promote social inclusion.

A major step towards making the education and training system more inclusive has been the abolition of tuition fees for upper secondary education. Financial constraints, however, are not the only barrier for disadvantaged groups wishing to access TVET. Geographical barriers can restrict accessibility for youth living in remote areas. Among other measures, the ESP provides for the construction of dormitories for students from these areas.

COTVET has developed a gender strategy through a process involving numerous stakeholders, including non-governmental organizations. Through the gender strategy, gender mainstreaming is to become a cross-cutting issue, so that infrastructure programmes and curriculum development better meet the needs of female students. Promotional campaigns, such as MyTVET, paired with investment in making TVET institutions more gender sensitive, explicitly aim to foster girls’ and women’s interest in technical and other traditionally male-dominated occupational areas.1

1. The various initiatives supported by the Government and international

partners, among others, were presented and discussed at the “Women in

TVET” conference in Accra, 13 Nov. 2019 (Ghanaian Times, 2019).

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The Persons With Disability Act of 2006 (no. 715) requires the Government to assist people who have disabilities to secure jobs through public employment centres. The Act also enjoins the Government to grant employers an annual tax rebate of the taxable income for each person with disability they employ. In addition, the Act requires the Government to grant special incentives to persons with disability engaged in entrepreneurship. The Act further requires the Government to progressively establish rehabilitation centres in regions and districts, which will offer guidance, counselling and appropriate training for persons with disability who are unable to enter into the mainstream of social life. The ESP also includes increased accessibility for persons with disability to TVET institutions as one of its targets, with a projection that 100 per cent of TVET institutions will be equipped with disability-friendly infrastructure by 2030 (MoE, 2018).

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Supporting transitions to the labour market

Career guidance, counselling and job search have not received much attention in recent years, despite their prominence in the Labour Act of 2003 (no. 651).2 The Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations has 62 public employment centres throughout the country, through which it administers and operates the national employment service and provides placements, vocational guidance and counselling, and labour market information. However, the Department appears understaffed to carry out its mandate effectively. Complementing the work of the Labour Department are over 100 private recruitment agencies operating nationwide, including international agencies. Career guidance and the development of skills for employability are also provided by civil society organizations, such as YES-Ghana.

Access to reliable labour market information remains limited, however. This, together with the complex and rapidly changing TVET landscape, makes decision-making for young people and their parents challenging and hampers school-to-work transitions.

2. Part II (Sections 2 to 7) of Act 651 is devoted to public employment

centres and fee-charging employment agencies.

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In this context, in 2006, Ghana set up the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP), which became the Youth Employment Agency (YEA) following the adoption of the Youth Employment Agency Act of 2015 (no. 887). The YEA is establishing a Job Centre to support young people in their school-to-work transition. The organization is also managing several publicly funded programmes. The impact of the YEA cannot yet be fully assessed.

In rural areas, government support for business development is delivered through the Rural Enterprises Programme (REP), which has been running since 1995 and so far has benefited 600,000 people. The REP, which has a total budget of $193 million, includes competence-based training in farm-based business, agro-processing, traditional crafts, etc., as well as literacy training and entrepreneurship and other business support services. As part of the REP, the Empowering Novel Agri-Business-Led Employment (1D1F ENABLE Youth) Initiative seeks to encourage young graduates to establish agro-processing factories along key value chains in selected districts across the country.

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Lifelong learning

The main area of policy-making in which lifelong learning features is the provision of literacy programmes for out-of-school youth and adults, such as the governmental National Functional Literacy Programme. According to the MoE (2018), this subsector of the education system is severely underfunded given the high prevalence of illiteracy among adults affected by poverty and/or living in remote areas (about 1.2 million people). The most recent programme enrolled over 17,000 learners. Technical and vocational skills development for adults is mainly delivered outside of the formal TVET system, for example in private training centres, in the workplace or through subsidized programmes, such as the REP.

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Key challenges

46

Ghana launched major reforms of the TVET system in 2017/2018. These reforms are still under way and it is too early to measure their impact on skills development and access to the labour market. The challenges to be addressed, however, have been analyzed thoroughly ahead of the reforms and are therefore well known:

Fragmentation of TVET provision and lack of coordination among the various institutions and stakeholders involved in TVET.

Institutional reforms are strengthening the role of the MoE and COTVET as coordinating bodies, but it will probably take some time for the historically rooted fragmentation of the TVET system to be overcome. In addition, stakeholder involvement needs to be strengthened, including stakeholders from the informal economy, in order to facilitate lifelong learning and ease mobility across the different forms of skills provision i.e. the formal TVET system, the informal economy and private training providers.

1

47

Lack of relevance of TVET to the needs of the labour market.

An underdeveloped skills anticipation system and the weak involvement of social partners in curriculum development and skills provision mean that training programmes are often outdated and do not adequately reflect the skills needed in workplaces.

Lack of sustainable financing mechanisms.

Ghana is granting TVET a key role in its development strategy. This needs to be reflected in terms of the budget allocation to TVET institutions. The private sector could also increase its contributions, to finance a TVET system that fulfils its human resources needs.

Poor quality of skills provision.

Due to a lack of financial means and a shortage of adequately skilled teaching and training personnel, skills delivery does not always meet basic quality requirements. This negatively affects the image of TVET, both among employers and among young people and their families.

2

3

4

48

Limited access to quality TVET for vulnerable groups.

The provision of free TVET at upper secondary education level and the construction of new TVET institutions should contribute to expanding access to skills development. More efforts are needed, however, to reach learners with special needs and to remove structural barriers, particularly those related to gender, disability, geographical remoteness and poverty.

Environmental concerns.

TVET has an important role to play in mitigating the environmental impact of industrialization by providing learners with “green” skills and supporting the emergence of sustainable business practices and activities. The green philosophy already underpinning policy documents thus needs to be translated in curricula, learning materials and teaching practices.

5

6

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The way forward

The Government’s commitment to skills development represents a unique opportunity for the development of a vibrant TVET system that contributes effectively to the delivery of more sustainable and inclusive economic growth. Based on the policies and strategies already adopted, Ghana could be supported in the following areas:

50

Continue capacity building among TVET stakeholders.

In order to reinforce their expertise in skills development issues and to strengthen social dialogue.

Support the development of sustainable financing mechanisms in TVET.

Such as the adoption of a training levy or other instruments to increase the contribution of industry to skills development.

Strengthen skills anticipation and TVET research capacities.

In order to provide better evidence for informed policy-making and management.

1

2

3

51

Expand successful initiatives to upgrade informal apprenticeships.

And ensure long-term financing mechanisms to reduce the dependency on international donors.

Support innovative pedagogies and work-based learning.

In the formal TVET system in order to increase both the quality and the relevance of skills provision.

Expand career guidance and counselling services.

To serve adults and young people across the whole country.

4

5

6

52

Support the greening of TVET.

In all reforms (e.g. curriculum development and pedagogy, teacher training, etc.).

7

53

Sources1. African Development Bank (AfDB). 2019a. African Economic Outlook (Abidjan).

2. —. 2019b. Republic of Ghana: Country Strategy Paper 2019–2023. Available at: www.afdb.org/sites/default/files/documents/projects-and-operations/ghana_country_strategy_2023_en.pdf

3. Breyer, J. 2006. Financial Arrangements in Informal Apprenticeships: Determinants and Effects – Findings from Urban Ghana. Working Paper 49 (Geneva, International Labour Office). Available at: http://apskills.ilo.org/resources/financial-arrangements-in-informal-apprenticeships-determinants-and-effects-findings-from-urban-ghana/at_download/file1

4. Council for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (COTVET). 2019. About COTVET – Achievements so far. Available at: https://cotvet.gov.gh/about-cotvet

5. Council for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (COTVET). 2018. Strategic Plan for TVET transformation (draft).

6. Ghana Skills Development Initiative (GSDI). 2019. “Sector Skills Bodies Stakeholders Meeting.” Available at: https://ghanaskills.org/node/148 [10 Dec. 2019].

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8. Ghanaian Times. 2019. “Women in TVET attend conference in Accra”, 15 Nov. Available at: www.ghanaiantimes.com.gh/women-in-tvet-attend-conference-in-accra

9. Global Affairs Canada (GAC). 2016. Needs Assessment of the TVET System in Ghana as it relates to the Skill Gaps that Exist in the Extractive Sector. Available at https://saskpolytech.ca/about/organization/documents/needs-assessment-ghana-tvet-system.pdf

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10. International Labour Organization (ILO). 2019. ILOSTAT. Available at: https://ilostat.ilo.org [9 Dec. 2019].

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13. Sparreboom, T.; Gomis, R. 2015. Structural Change, Employment and Education in Ghana (Geneva, ILO). Available at: www.ilo.org/employment/Whatwedo/Publications/working-papers/WCMS_444515/lang--en/index.htm

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15. World Bank. 2017. Creating Markets in Ghana. Country Private Sector Diagnostic (Washington, DC). Available at: http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/536511531311975214/pdf/WP-GH-CPSD-Creating-Markets-in-Ghana-Nov-2017-PUBLIC.pdf

16. —. 2019. World Bank Open Data. Available at: https://data.worldbank.org [11 Dec. 2019].

17. World Bank Group. 2019. Sub-Saharan Africa: Ghana. Poverty and Equity Brief. Available at: http://tiny.cc/fzo8iz [27 Jan. 2020].

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Skills and Employability Branch

Employment Policy DepartmentInternational Labour Office4, route des MorillonsCH-1211 Geneva 22, SwitzerlandWebsite: www.ilo.org/skills