Beyond Certificates: Why Ghana’s TVET Revolution Must Prioritise Employment Over Enrolment

Introduction

Ghana’s education system stands at a critical juncture as the government unveils ambitious plans to overhaul technical and vocational education and training (TVET). The 2026 budget announcement signals a fundamental shift in how Ghana approaches skills development, moving beyond mere certificate production toward genuine employment outcomes. This transformation comes at a time when youth unemployment remains stubbornly high despite decades of educational reform efforts.

Key Points

Background

Ghana’s TVET system has historically operated on a supply-driven model, offering programs based on available equipment and institutional capacity rather than systematic analysis of labour market demand. This approach has created a paradox where industries report skills shortages while thousands of graduates remain unemployed. The ratio of TVET students to senior high school students stands at approximately 1:18, reflecting decades of social messaging that positions TVET as a fallback option rather than a deliberate pathway to skilled employment.

The current system produces graduates whose competencies often don’t match employer requirements. While 48% of young people are either unemployed or underemployed, industries across construction, manufacturing, agro-processing, hospitality, and renewable energy consistently report difficulties finding adequately skilled workers. This fundamental misalignment between training provision and labour market needs has persisted despite multiple rounds of TVET reform.

Analysis

The government’s commitment to establishing two new technical universities in Jasikan and Techiman, expanding six regional TVET centres of excellence, and supporting an additional 10,000 master craft persons through the Ghana TVET Voucher Project represents institutional recognition that the country’s challenge lies less in producing graduates and more in producing employable citizens. However, these reforms must address the structural disconnect that has plagued Ghana’s TVET system for decades.

The competency-based training (CBT) framework championed by the Council for Technical and Vocational Education and Training offers the right conceptual approach. CBT emphasizes outcomes over inputs, requiring students to demonstrate mastery of specific competencies that industry has validated as necessary for employment. In theory, this eliminates the alignment problem. However, implementation has been inconsistent due to institutional capacity constraints, outdated equipment, and instructors with limited recent industry experience.

The apprenticeship dimension deserves particular attention. With over 90% of Ghana’s working population employed in the informal sector, traditional apprenticeship remains the dominant pathway for young people to acquire practical skills. The National Apprenticeship Programme aims to formalize and strengthen these arrangements, but its reach remains limited relative to the scale of informal training occurring nationwide. A truly transformative TVET reform would create bridges between informal apprenticeship and formal credentialing systems.

Practical Advice

For policymakers, the path forward requires several critical actions:

First, establish robust labour market information systems that systematically track employer demand, skills gaps, and emerging occupational requirements. This data must feed continuously back to training institutions to ensure curriculum relevance. Second, implement rigorous quality assurance mechanisms that evaluate TVET institutions based on graduate employment rates rather than enrolment numbers or certificate production. Third, develop recognition of prior learning mechanisms that allow experienced practitioners without formal certificates to demonstrate competency and receive industry-recognized credentials.

For employers, active engagement in curriculum development and workplace learning opportunities is essential. Companies must partner with TVET institutions to ensure training programs reflect actual workplace requirements and provide internship opportunities that give students practical experience. For students and parents, understanding that TVET can lead to viable, well-compensated careers requires changing long-held perceptions about technical education’s value and prestige.

FAQ

Conclusion

Ghana’s TVET revolution represents a critical opportunity to transform the country’s human capital development approach. The infrastructure investments announced in the 2026 budget create the physical foundation for a reformed system. However, whether this foundation supports genuine transformation or simply larger-scale replication of existing inadequacies depends on execution decisions in curriculum design, teacher recruitment, employer engagement, and quality assurance.

The measure of success isn’t enrolment numbers or certificate production but the number of graduates who secure employment in occupations matching their training. Without obsessive focus on these outcome measures, Ghana risks celebrating expanded access to training that doesn’t deliver on its promise of employment and economic mobility. The demographic dividend—a young population that could drive productivity for decades—depends on converting that youth bulge into a skilled workforce rather than an unemployed burden.

Sources

– Ghana Ministry of Education budget statements (2026)
– Ghana Statistical Service youth unemployment data
– Council for Technical and Vocational Education and Training reports
– World Bank Ghana TVET Voucher Project documentation
– International Labour Organization skills mismatch research
– Comparative analysis of German and Swiss vocational education systems