Educationist calls for positive mindset shift towards TVET education

Educationist and private researcher, Osman Salifu has called for a positive shift in mindset of people towards Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in Ghana.

Speaking on Info Radio’s Info Weekend Watch show, the educationist said Ghanaians have over the years developed a negative mindset about TVET education which ought to change in order to allow for the country’s transformation through TVET skills.

“The minds of Ghanaians have been programmed to see TVET as the type of education for people who have weak brains and cannot pursue the popular grammar education which is never the case,” he said.

He was speaking on the subject of schools and course selection in the wake of the release of the 2026 Basic Education Certificate Education (BECE) results and the subsequent school selection processes by students.

Mr. Salifu who is also the Acting Vice Principal of Nakori Chansa Technical Institute, disabused the notion that TVET education is for “failures”, saying that TVET is the kind of education that Ghana needs to develop.

He further indicated that students who pursue TVET courses in second cycle can equally enroll in tertiary institutions like colleges and universities just like students who pursued grammar and Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) courses.

Mr Salifu noted that the current Competency-Based Training (CBT) curriculum used in TVET schools aims to significantly influence a positive attitudinal change among Ghanaian young people.

“One core objective is to change attitudes of students for example, such that if they drink water, they will not throw the sachet inappropriately, they will find a bin to dispose even if it requires carrying it in their pockets until they find the right place to dispose it,” indicated.

He noted that TVET provides the teeming Ghanaian youth with employable skills that makes them economically self-reliant and reduce dependence on public sector employment for livelihoods.

“With TVET, a young person will be able to take care of themselves and even if they cannot provide much for their parents but they will no longer need to rely on parents for economic survival,” he said.

Mr Salifu who is also a researcher, founder of Osu Research and Tech Solutions, noted that the TVET curriculum also aims to train students who are able to transform theories into practical application for solving problems.

He indicated that the approach is to curb the situation where students learn academic theories for examination purposes and rather instill the right knowledge and curiosity that allow students to use the theories to solve local problems in their communities.

“There are many problems in our communities, but how can students translate the theories they learn into solving those local problems?” he quizzed, emphasizing that TVET education is essential for Ghana’s development.