Review vocational, technical education curricular – Retired Lecturer

A retired Lecturer of the Kumasi Campus of the University of Education has called on vocational and technical institutions to modify their curricular to conform to modern expectations.

The Very Reverend John Owusu-Asamoah contended that the “old stratification of work in terms of skill and semi-skill acquisition for which they were created has become increasingly obsolete”.

Students in vocational and technical education, he said, should be exposed not just to a particular craft or skill but to an amalgam of skills encompassing Information, Communication and Technology, costing, business enterprise development, entrepreneurship, some form of liberal studies and amongst others.

This would in the long term make them flexible, versatile workers and well-versed in technical, scientific, management and information skills for self-employment and for public sector employment.

Very Reverend Owusu-Asamoah was addressing the 10th graduation ceremony of the Ramseyer Vocational Technical Institute at Kyirapatre in Kumasi.

In all, 55 students passed out and were presented with certificates, working tools and equipment after a four-year course programme in Electrical Installation, Block-laying and Concreting, Catering and Hospitality Services, as well as Fashion and Designing.

The retired Lecturer bemoaned what he described as the lack of state involvement in vocational and technical education saying this was responsible for the less attention given to that area over the years.

He said there was the need to motivate teachers in such institutions, resource their workshops with modern training equipment and also provide access to students to undertake practical programmes with less difficulty.

The Reverend Samuel Ayeh-Hanson, Principal of the Institute, urged the students to strive to put into practice what they had been taught for their own benefit.

Source: GNA