Government can solve unemployment with investments in technical and vocational education- Dr Kwabena Duffuor

The government has been urged to commit adequate resources to Technical and Vocational Education and Training as a way to curb the growing unemployment rate in the country.

A former Finance Minister who is also the founding and presiding President of the Institute of Fiscal Studies, Dr Kwabena Duffuor has suggested that the failure to attention to technical and vocational training over the years may be a major contributing factor to the current unemployment situation in the country.

“The neglect of technical and vocational training over the years might have contributed to the high unemployment and rising poverty among the youth. Many of them lack basic job skills.”

According to him, Ghana’s unemployment levels will continue to remain high if the government does not invest in technical and vocational training to equip the youth with the needed skills to help them work and earn an income.

Available data shows that unemployment among persons 15 -24 years is about 18.4% of the total labour force. The unemployment rate is the percentage of a country’s labour force without jobs that is available to work and actively seeking employment.

The former Finance Minister contends that for the country to compete and grow in this era of economic integration, transformation and technological change, the Ghanaian youth needs skills acquisition of employable skills thus the underline necessity of vocational education and training

Delivering a lecture on the unemployment situation in the country on the theme ‘The Ghanaian Dream; Transforming the economy through job creation and opportunities for all”, Dr. Kwabena Duffuor urged the government to increase its investment in technical and vocational training.

“High youth unemployment and prevalent skills gaps within the labour force, underlines the necessity for vocational and technical education. Ghana must place TVET education in the centre of its job creation strategy to successfully address the high youth unemployment,”.