Young Ghanaian women are to benefit from a collaborative project in Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET)at the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC).

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to this effect was signed in Accra on Tuesday, between the collaborating partners - CAMFED Ghana and GAEC.

The MOU was signed by Professors Shiloh D. Osae, the Deputy Director-General of the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission and Mary Boadu, the Director of the Radiological and Medical Science Research, for GAEC, while Mrs Sally Ofori-Yeboah, the National Director, CAMFED Ghana and Mr Emmanuel Obeng-Adjei, the Head of Programmes, represented CAMFED.

Prof. Osae in an address, said the partnership with CAMFED Ghana, was a huge step towards bridging the gap between research institutions and the private sector, saying the three-year project, would adopt a market-driven approach to science, technology, and research through a competency-based training, to improve and empower young women between the ages of 18 and 35 years for socio-economic development.

The TVET project will also serve as an interface between the modern Technology Transfer and Marketing Centre of GAEC and CAMFED Ghana, where the beneficiaries will receive training in trade areas including consumer electronics, welding and fabrication, block moulding, floriculture, and composting.

The objective of the project, he said, was to empower young women to be self-reliant, enhance their capacities in meeting defined quality standards to be industry-oriented, and to identify trade areas (research) that may need support to the group of females in Ghana.

Prof. Osae recounted how the Commission had since its inception, peacefully applied nuclear technology in various fields including health, agriculture, water resources, environment, industry, and space science, to enhance Ghana’s development.

He said the objective was to also build a core of highly skilled and professional Ghanaian personnel to match global standards, feed local industries, and ensure that Ghana had the required local expertise during the construction and subsequent operation of its Nuclear Power Plant.
Prof. Osae said “over the years, our focus as a Commission has been on giving greater opportunities to men, leaving the women behind, but I believe our collaboration will change the narrative for the greater impact to be felt,” adding that GAEC was opened for partnerships from both public and private sector institutions, locally and internationally.

Mrs Ofori-Yeboah, the National Director, CAMFED Ghana, said the current training was targeted at reaching 100 young females, who had the passion to learn a skill for trade in the various vocations outlined under the project and encouraged eligible persons to check the news media for the advertisement to apply for enrolment.

She said no academic qualifications were required for the training, targeted at women who were disadvantaged and would be provided with start-up kits and mentorship for a firm grounding in the chosen vocations after the training.

Mrs Ofori-Yeboah said accommodation had been arranged for trainees, two months, for each batch.

She said CAMFED Ghana was instrumental in supporting the Young Africa Works strategy in Ghana, which was an initiative under the MasterCard programme, to provide 30 million jobs for young females in Africa by 2030, and that Ghana alone was to benefit from three million, over 10 years.

Mr Ofori-Yeboah said CAMFED Ghana was, therefore, hoping to equip 150,000 young people (girls and boys) over the next three years with work-readiness skills to enable them to secure dignified employment, and in anticipation that 70 per cent of the jobs would be for women, with over 65 per cent, being newly created through young Ghanaian women entrepreneurship.

She explained that as a key player in the development space, CAMFED Ghana, believed in collaborations with other stakeholders to increase female participation in TVET, to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal (4), which sought to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.