Electronic manufacturing giant, Samsung and other international cooperations have put their collective weight together to support the formation of an educational project in Ghana aimed at training young females in electronics.
The project dubbed Female Professionals in Electronics will see young Ghanaian women trained in technical and electronic skills to enable them compete in a field mostly dominated by male for good quality and economic opportunities.
As part of the 1.08 million Euro project, four vocational institutions in the country namely: Don Bosco Vocational Institute, Ashaiman, Pentecost Vocational Training Centre, Gbawe, Accra Girls Vocational Institute and CYO Technical-Vocational Institute in Sovie Volta Region will have the state-of-the-art electronics lab installed for them for training of the female professionals.
For two of the schools, Accra Girls and Don Bosco, the project will provide them with two additional classrooms each constructed from pre-fabricated, mobile housing units.
The other bodies partnering Samsung for this project includes German Cooperation (GIZ), Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and the Ghana Government through COTVET.
Speaking at the launch of the project at the Pentecost Vocational Training Centre in Accra on Monday, the Managing Director of Samsung Electronics West Africa, Jingak Chung said “this partnership is a major leap and a progressive step in equipping women with skills beyond primary industries such as needlework, cosmetic and secretary to finding quality jobs through vocational training which can create more income and added value to the electronics sector.”
“The Female Professionals in Electronics project is expected to increase the number of women making advances in the male dominated industry of Electronics tipping the scales and positioning women as knowledgeable contributors to the industry. The project will support Ghanaian women finding quality jobs through vocational training which can create more income and value added.”
Also speaking at the project launch, the Minister of Education, Professor Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang said the collaboration is welcoming news for Ghanaians since it will empower women to take hold of their economic lives.
According to her though it is evident that Ghana is endowed with skilled tradesmen in several sectors usually dominated by men.
“Technical and Vocational Education and training (TVET) has been identified as the means to providing the needed skills to empower the youth to spur social and economic growth in Ghana by creating self-employment after school and contributing to the economic growth of the country,” adding that the project will help address what she described as “skills mismatch” in Ghana.
She further noted that in all a total of 117 girls in all the four schools are currently earmarked to benefit from the project.
“Through the training, the girls will gain knowledge, technical capabilities, communication skills and the necessary self-confidence to compete in the growing market and thus generate income for themselves and their growing families.”
Prof. Opoku Agyemang further thanked the sponsors for supporting the project.
Rationale for project
Consumer electronics probably represents the fastest growing section in an emerging economy such as Ghana. Yet women do not benefit from the gains made in this sector the way they could hence the need for them to be equipped with the necessary attitude and skills.
The project provides intensive teacher-training on Competency Based Training (CBT) in electronics and generic subjects for those instructors newly engaged at the partner schools.
The project is expected to produce the first batch of 100 female graduates in three years from the four training institutes.
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By: Godwin A. Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin