Demand and Supply of Skills in Ghana : How Can Training Programs Improve Employment?
Ghana has a youthful population of 24 million and has shown impressive gains in economic growth and in poverty reduction over the last two decades. The necessary sustained growth requires three critical steps: (1) increase productivity in the strat...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Publication |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
Washington, DC: World Bank
2014
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2014/06/19764962/demand-supply-skills-ghana-can-training-programs-improve-employment-productivity http://hdl.handle.net/10986/18866 |
| Summary: | Ghana has a youthful population of 24
million and has shown impressive gains in economic growth
and in poverty reduction over the last two decades. The
necessary sustained growth requires three critical steps:
(1) increase productivity in the strategic economic sectors,
(2) diversify the economy, and (3) expand employment.
Raising the level and range of skills in the country
provides a key contribution to these core drivers of
sustained growth. Skills development in Ghana encompasses
foundational skills (literacy, numeracy), transferable and
soft skills, and technical and vocational skills. These
skills are acquired throughout life through formal
education, training, and higher education; on the job
through work experience and professional training; through
family and community; and via the media. This report focuses
on one segment of Ghana s skills development system: formal
and informal technical and vocational education and training
(TVET) at the pre-tertiary level. Although TVET alone does
not guarantee productivity gains or job creation, it is
generally agreed that a blend of cognitive, non-cognitive,
intermediate, and higher technical skills is crucial to
enhance the country s competitiveness and contribute to
social inclusion, acceptable employment, and the alleviation
of poverty. The public financing approach and general lack
of incentives to improve TVET in Ghana help to perpetuate a
supply-driven, low-quality skills system that responds very
poorly to the needs of the economy, and especially its
growth sectors. The national skills strategy should aim to
complement, and be complemented by, reforms that are
underway in related sectors (for example, private sector
development and employment, the informal economy,
information and communication technologies, and
agriculture). One of the more innovative elements of the
ongoing reform has been the establishment of sustainable
financing for the skills development fund (SDF). Channeling
the majority of TVET resources through a SDF will make it
easier for funds to be allocated in line with general
national socioeconomic priorities and specific priorities
identified by Council for Technical and Vocational Education
and Training (COTVET). |
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