Mr Joseph Gordon-Mensah, the Business Development and Communications Manager, International Needs Ghana, has emphasised the importance of the National Proficiency certifications in creating opportunities for citizens.
He said the certifications were indispensable tool under the National Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) qualification framework that provided great opportunities and facilitated access to further education and training for persons in the TVET field.
Mr Gordon-Mensah was speaking at the first graduation for Competency Based Training (CDT) Learners under the Ghana TVET Voucher Project at Centre for Empowerment and Enterprise Development (CEED) at Mafi-Adidome in the Central Tongu District of the Volta Region.
He said the Proficiency I and II certifications also improved quality of products and services by ensuring uniform standard of practice in the trades and professions, promote and facilitate access to life-long learning for all, especially those in the informal sector of the economy.
The Communications Manager charged the graduates to aspire for greater heights in life and never consider the graduation as an end to their goal, but rather a beginning of a high journey and further accomplishments.
He commended the graduates for developing interest in their personal growth and availing themselves to acquire the requisite knowledge and skills through the CBT to enhance their work.
Mr Gordon-Mensah urged them to be committed, determined and prepared to face any challenges with confidence and applied the knowledge and skills they acquired to deal with them.
“Let the training you have received at CEED reflect in your business and inject more changes into your designs, finishing and packaging to attract more clients and be part of the current revolution in the TVET sector,” he added.
Mr Thomas Moore Zonyrah, the District Chief Executive (DCE) for the area, commended International Needs Ghana for continuously impacting knowledge and employable skills to the people, especially the young women to transform their lives.
He said International Needs Ghana was one of the trusted development partners in the district and had endeared so much to the good of the people and that the various projects they had initiated over the years were appreciated by the Assembly.
The DCE said CEED was one of the top-notch vocational training institutes in the country, contributing to the training of young women, master craft persons and apprentices in fashion, cosmetology and hospitality management.
Mr Zonyrah advised the youth to take advantage of the opportunity provided by the Ghana TVET Voucher Project to venture into TVET to gain the needed employable skills to enhance and improve their socio-economic wellbeing.
He was grateful to CEED for positioning itself as worthy to be selected as a training provider for the Ghana TVET Voucher Project, a project under the Ghana-German Finance Cooperation and implemented by the Commission for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (CTVET).
Madam Mawulorm Gbekor, Team Leader of CEED, said the institution was well positioned to provide quality training to young women and equipped them with needed skills to compete favourably in the world of work.
She said the institution since its inception had churned out several young women who were currently doing well in various areas of the economy with some becoming big entrepreneurs impacting positively on the lives of some citizens.
The Team Leader admonished the youth to venture into TVET, saying TVET was one of the surest ways to equip themselves with employable skills and to curb unemployment situations in the country.
Mr Theodore Atsu Ameme, Team Lead for the CBT, and Programme Officer of International Needs Ghana, also underscored the importance of TVET as a tool for national development.
He said the Ghana TVET project aimed to mainstream the informal sector into the formal sector to enable those in the informal sector to enhance their skills to meet the global standard.
Acquisition of this global standard skills, he said, would essentially provide the opportunity for the beneficiaries to operate globally, change their economic situation and help them to remain in business.
A total of 80 master crafts persons graduated and were awarded with certificates in the disciplines of Fashion, Designs and Cosmetology.
Some of the graduates, who spoke to the Ghana News Agency, were thankful to the Government for initiating the project, stating that it had given them the opportunity to add value to themselves.
