The Asuansi Technical Institute has received training from the ILO Skill Up project for over 100 teachers of the institution, as part of steps taken to enable the delivery of teaching and learning through online platforms for students.
The training was organised for teachers of the institution, and forms part of measures to get them resourced and enabled to transfer the knowledge to students and keep them on the path to tackling the challenges which digitalisation poses on the job market.
Increase in the use of digital technology is also driving change in the tools and modalities of learning, assessment and certification, along with the provision of career guidance, job-matching and labour market services – hence the need to create opportunities for students to adjust to it, National Project Coordinator for Skill Up Ghana, Adetor Frank Kwasi, has said.
Mr. Adetor, stressing how it has become a necessity for individuals to respond to the current changes that are occurring around the globe said: “In this context, national Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and skills systems have both external and internal pressures.
“First, they have to respond to external demands for new skills from our increasingly digital society and enterprises; and secondly, as other sectors do, they themselves have to engage in digital transformation and the challenges this presents to their institutions, staff and learners.”
Stressing the negative impact of COVID-19, he argued that education and training – particularly in low income countries – have been badly affected; hence the need to rely on available technologies developed to resolve the problems.
Emphasising how helpful the use of technology has been in contributing to developing solutions in response to challenges which evolved as a result of COVID-19, he acknowledge the evolution of adaptable methods in the education and training system through the development of solutions from the great exertion of public authorities, the private sector and civil society.
The school currently hosts about 2,500 students and is a beneficiary of the digital training set up for teachers at the various technical schools.
Promising continuous support to the institution, Mr. Adetor said: “The ILO, working through CTVET, will support the Asuansi Technical Institute to develop a guideline for digitalisation that will serve as a blueprint for replication in other technical institutes”.
Mr. Adetor said the Asuansi Technical Institute, supported by the tutors and the ILO, is leading the digitalisation of TVET in Ghana by expanding training to its teachers on the digitisation of teaching and learning.
Hinting at some of the challenges that are very worrying for progress of the training, he said: “The challenge, however, is how students will access the learning, because they don’t have laptops or smartphones”.
