Accra, Feb. 9, GNA - An expert in Technical and Vocational Training has called on stakeholders in the Division to give more attention to skills a= nd competence than paper qualification to enable Ghana to compete with other=

industrialised nations.

Mr Nicholas Opoku, Chairman for the 15-member Board of Council for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (COTVET), said proper training and enough funding would help the sector produce competent professionals who would assist the country to become an industrial giant. He was speaking on Tuesday in Accra at a ceremony organised by COTVE= T for stakeholders to make contributions into a 119-page Technical Committe= e report on the harmonisation of competency-based training in Ghana. Mr Opoku described the inability of Ghanaian engineers and technicia= ns to repair the faulty control panel at the Weija Waterworks, which has cau= sed acute water shortage in some places in Accra, as unfortunate and an indictment on the competency of technical and vocational training in the country's educational system. Some parts of Accra West have been hit by acute water shortage following a breakdown of the control panel that pumps water from the Weij= a Dam to the reservoirs for treatment. Worst hit areas include Dansoman, New Abossey-Okai, Mataheko, Korle Gonno, Kwashiman, Abeka La Paz and Mamprobi.

Mr Opoku expressed worry that many people used productive hours to queue for water due to the fault and said it was high time skills and competence-based training were strengthened in the country's educational sector. Dr Benjamin Kwesi Prah, Rector of Kumasi Polytechnic, expressed the hope that participants would make meaningful inputs to the Committee's report for adoption by COTVET.

"Once the document is accepted, every technical and vocational education and training institution would be requested to give attention t= o abilities, attitude, as well as instil in students, competence-based skills," he said.

COTVET is a national body set up by an Act of Parliament to coordina= te and oversee all aspects of technical and vocational education in the country. The Council consists of various experts, divisions and committee= s to run its affairs.