The conference, themed “Developing Skills and Standards for Industry”, is a two-day programme that seeks to address the skills and capacity gaps in the extractive and manufacturing industries, devising a framework for the setting up of programmes for developing capacity in Training Institutions, Training and Testing Centres, and On-The-Job training, to manage the employment needs of the extractive and allied Industry.

Mr Oswald Felli, the Communication Manager for WRCF, told the Ghana News Agency that at a time when the Government was looking to the oil and gas sector to meet local content requirements, achieving these targets posed a challenge as there were many skilled workers who did not meet industry standards.

He stated that needs assessment of Ghana’s Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) system, sponsored by Global Affairs Canada in 2016, revealed that the TVET system has not blended well with Industry.

 Therefore, effective relationships between Industry, Government and technical institutes needed to be built to align needs to training policy in order to have job-ready graduates from technical institutes.

Mr Felli said the conference would become an annual platform for stakeholders to engage on issues affecting TVET and ways to channel policy to address the gap.

The CEO of WRCF, Mr. Matthew Armah, said “Our focus is to use dialogue to improve the relevance of training to industry, and identify improvements to bridge the gap between the supply of skills and demand for skilled workers. Therefore, WRCF hopes that this conference gives stakeholders the opportunity to broaden discussions and provide input that helps shape policy to tackle the core issues.”

Mr Armah added he was “excited to see a diverse group of people in attendance, which made “discussions spirited and thought provoking” adding, “This has led us to some compelling recommendations to drafting a roadmap towards the implementation of Industry standards.”

Over 150 participants from Industry, academia, Government from across the country converged at Takoradi to engage and contribute to help government build strong institutional frameworks and enhance current skills set towards its goal of making Ghana a hub for skills development and TVET delivery in Africa.

Various Speakers including the  Deputy Minister of Education in charge of TVET, Ms. Barbara Asher Ayisi; the Deputy Minister of Energy, Hon. Joseph Cudjoe; the Executive Secretary of the National Council for Tertiary Education, Prof. Mohammed Salifu; and other distinguished personalities from Industry deliberated on Industry Standards ad Skills Development; Industry and the capacity of TVET Institutions among other themes.

The Western Region Coastal Foundation (WRCF) is an innovative entity that convenes and encourages effective dialogue between oil, gas, and power (OGP) companies, other extractive industry actors, local communities, and the government in the six coastal districts of Ghana’s Western Region, to identify and resolve issues facing these communities.

WRCF leverages stakeholder financial and in-kind contributions and corporate social investments to address stability and socio-economic development concerns of communities.

Through its seeded platform, the Technical Centre of Excellence, WRCF offers companies interested in skills development the opportunity to leverage its Corporate Social Investment – Skills Programme to sponsor local artisans as part of their CSR initiatives.