Demand and Supply of Skills in Ghana by Peter Darvas; Robert Palmer

Author:Peter Darvas; Robert Palmer
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The World Bank

A Demand-Driven, Responsive TVET System

Ghana’s TVET system will not get transformed into a demand-driven TVET system so long as the demand side of the economy is itself having problems. Incentives linked to stimulating demand are required. We know that the majority of those working in Ghana’s labor market work in the informal economy, most often in small-scale, low-productivity agricultural and nonagricultural ventures. And we know that most new jobs are created here, while the formal labor market has a much lower absorptive capacity for labor. The informality of the labor market and the existence of a low-skills equilibrium across many sectors and/or enterprise sizes is persistent. But options exist that could be taken to help move away from this. More effort is needed to stimulate growth in the informal economy, as well as to stimulate demand for higher skill levels. In addition, increased focus should be placed on TVET for the informal economy, and a move away from the notion that only formal sector demand should be considered when we talk about TVET being “demand driven.”

At the systemic level, a mechanism is required to determine formal and informal sector skills requirements on an ongoing basis. For this to be achieved, collaboration between ministries (especially Ministry of Education [MoE], MoELR, and Ministry of Trade and Industry [MoTI]) and the private sector needs to be strong; ideally, this would be promoted under the coordination of COTVET’s Industrial Training Advisory Committee. In order to identify and forecast skills demand, COTVET might consider developing a scarce skills list such as South Africa’s (RSA 2007); this list would reflect the skills that are most needed and on which policy makers need to focus acquisition and development efforts. COTVET might also look at the Labor Market Intelligence Reports produced by the Philippines Technical Education and Skills Development Authority. Other countries pursue this approach and publish separate reports on the current and future skills needs of different sectors (see Figgis and Standen 2005; Government of Australia 2005).

Decentralization plays a key role in making training decisions more relevant to the market. TVET development and expansion can be successful only in a decentralized context where districts and institutions take the lead. This will require capacity-building efforts at the institutional and district levels, as well as capacity building of informal trade associations. Formal public institutions could be run under strategic leadership, with a clear outcome focus and effective management, adopting the best aspects of private institute management. Public TVET institute managers would need to be given increased autonomy (to set fees, hire and dismiss staff, determine curricula content, and choose training materials and pedagogy).

The performance of both public and private institutions (and their managers) could be promoted through specific incentives. TVET institute boards could be reformed to include local private sector representatives. In this way the schools and centers could be more in touch with market demand and be better placed to seek private sector support (financial or in kind). Private sector representatives’ participation could be encouraged through tax concessions.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.