Stakeholders in Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) have said low female participation in some skills training programmes continue to leave such trades as male dominated areas and worsens unemployment among females.
They said skills such as beekeeping, electrical works, plumbing and auto mechanics remain male dominated areas and widen the gap between boys and girls with the later shying away from such vocational sectors in the midst of increasing unemployment among the youth.
The stakeholders include actors in TVET, Regional Councils, traditional and religious authorities, NGOs delegated technical services and farmer organizations among others, met to discuss potentials, opportunities and challenges of TVET towards youth employment in the country.
The meeting, which was held in Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region was organized by the Ghana Developing Communities Association (GDCA), a non-government organisation based in Tamale, which operates in various interventions in TVET.
They also discussed its new project dubbed: PARCs, its potentials, support schemes and opportunities.
Mr Abdul Hafiz Yussif, the Project Officer who Presented the objectives and mission of the PARCs said it was a three- year project, sponsored by the French Development Agency and partners and implemented by the GDCA to help strengthen social cohesion in strategic cross- border areas in Ghana.
It aims at training 240 youth in agriculture particularly beekeeping, electricals and construction in the Tatale-Sanguli, Gushegu Municipal and Karaga in the Northern Region, Chereponi in the North East Region, Bawku- West and Bongo Districts in the Upper East Region.
Mr Yussif said the NGO had targeted areas such as facilitating local development, strengthening informed local governance by giving out tools and strengthening multi actor governance at the local level.
“In Ghana, the GDCA has a mission to build resilient communities through working with its partners, civil society organisations, government and private sector and globally influence inclusive development,” he said.
Mr Osman Abdel-Rahman, the Executive Directive, GDCA who spoke in an interview with journalists on sustainability of PARCs said some structures that had been identified to help sustain the project included the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies, which are key to the implementation of the project, hence, they had been engaged from the onset to be aware of the projects coming to their districts , and how they could sustain them.
According to him the TVET committees at the regional level were important stakeholders, expected to bring together all institutions that had TVET component to support and share expertise in the training programme.
“Because we are working in informal TVET training, we are dealing with master craftsmen to help in the training, which are at the introductory level. The training helps prepare them before they go into apprenticeship.”
Representative institutions and their representatives who participated also came out with plans to support the PARCs programmes and trainees to make them useful to the districts and Municipal assemblies.
Among the participants were Alhaji Ahmed Ishahaku, District Chief Executive for Zebilla, and the Paramount Chief of Bongo Traditional Area, Bon Naba Salifu Alemyaarum, and some Coordinating Directors.
GNA