Demand and Supply of Skills in Ghana: How Can Training Programs Improve Employment and Productivity? (World Bank Studies)

Skills development in Ghana encompasses foundational skills, transferable/soft-skills, and technical and vocational skills. This report focuses on one segment of this skills development system: formal and informal technical and vocational education and training (TVET) at the pre-tertiary level. TVET represents a major intersection between education, youth and the labor market. The government has long promised to the population that increasing technical and vocational skills training opportunities will help solve youth unemployment. However, market distortions and inefficiencies have led to an adverse cycle of high costs, inadequate quality of supply and low demand, leading to further pressures on the effectiveness and efficiency of TVET services. This adverse cycle means that the political and policy promise of skills development helping to ease the unemployment problem is at risk of remaining unfulfilled. The report focuses on social and economic demand for (pre-tertiary) technical and vocational skills and maps out the supply of these skills from formal and informal, private and public sectors. The dual purpose has been to both carry out an institutional and policy analysis and also to establish a platform for monitoring sector performance and assisting policy and Development Partner harmonization. The report analyzes the economic and social demand for technical and vocational skills and the suitability of the current supply as well as the effectiveness of policy, coordination and financing of technical and vocational skills development. The report annex provides the summary of economic demand analyses from the key sectors reviewed and provides a full mapping of all technical and vocational programs in Ghana. The study offers a comprehensive set of policy recommendations for improving Ghana’s pre-tertiary technical and vocational skills development sector, which will be of interest to policy makers and development partners in Ghana. Ghana has a youthful population of 24 million and has shown impressive gains in economic growth and in poverty reduction over the last two decades. The necessary sustained growth requires three critical steps: (1) increase productivity in the strategic economic sectors, (2) diversify the economy, and (3) expand employment. Raising the level and range of skills in the country provides a key contribution to these core drivers of sustained growth. Skills development in Ghana encompasses foundational skills (literacy, numeracy), transferable and soft skills, and technical and vocational skills. These skills are acquired throughout life through formal education, training, and higher education; on the job through work experience and professional training; through family and community; and via the media. This report focuses on one segment of Ghana s skills development system: formal and informal technical and vocational education and training (TVET) at the pre-tertiary level. Although TVET alone does not guarantee productivity gains or job creation, it is generally agreed that a blend of cognitive, non-cognitive, intermediate, and higher technical skills is crucial to enhance the country s competitiveness and contribute to social inclusion, acceptable employment, and the alleviation of poverty. The public financing approach and general lack of incentives to improve TVET in Ghana help to perpetuate a supply-driven, low-quality skills system that responds very poorly to the needs of the economy, and especially its growth sectors. The national skills strategy should aim to complement, and be complemented by, reforms that are underway in related sectors (for example, private sector development and employment, the informal economy, information and communication technologies, and agriculture). One of the more innovative elements of the ongoing reform has been the establishment of sustainable financing for the skills development fund (SDF). Channeling the majority of TVET resources through a SDF will make it easier for funds to be allocated in line with general national socioeconomic priorities and specific priorities identified by Council for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (COTVET) Front Cover -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Contents -- Foreword -- Acknowledgments -- About the Authors -- Abbreviations -- Executive Summary -- Country and Sector Context -- Social and Economic Demand for Technical and Vocational Skills in Ghana -- TVET Supply, Coordination, and Financing -- Policy Recommendations -- Notes -- Chapter 1 Context, Drivers, and Challenges of Technical and Vocational Skills Development Reform -- Introduction -- The Global Rise in Importance of Technical and Vocational Skills Development -- Technical and Vocational Skills Development Drivers in Ghana -- TVET Policy, 2002-13 -- A Framework for Assessing Market and Nonmarket Imperfections Related to TVET in Sub-Saharan Africa -- Concluding Comments -- Notes -- Chapter 2 Demand for TVET -- Introduction -- Social Demand for TVET -- Economic Demand for TVET -- Skill Demand and Supply in Selected Sectors -- Concluding Comments -- Notes -- Chapter 3 TVET Supply, Performance, and Assessment -- The Suppliers of Technical and Vocational Education and Training in Ghana -- Formal Public TVET Providers -- Private Institution TVET Providers -- Enterprise-Based TVET Providers -- Concluding Comments -- Notes -- Chapter 4 TVET Coordination -- Introduction -- The Coordination of TVET Supply and Demand -- Coordination of Government Strategies, Plans, and Development Partner Support -- TVET Quality Assurance and Qualifications -- Concluding Comments -- Notes -- Chapter 5 TVET Financing -- Systemic TVET Financing -- TVET Financing Modalities -- Outcomes and Issues -- Concluding Comments -- Notes -- Chapter 6 Policy Recommendations -- TVET Policy Development and Governance -- A Demand-Driven, Responsive TVET System -- Equity Considerations -- TVET Financing -- Data, Monitoring and Evaluation, and Information Systems -- Notes -- Appendix A Demand for Skills in Selected Economic Sectors "This report focuses on social and economic demand for pretertiary technical and vocational skills and maps out the supply of these skills from formal and informal private and public sectors. The report analyzes the economic and social demand for technical and vocational skills and the suitability of the current supply as well as the effectiveness of policy, coordination, and financing of technical and vocational skills development"--Back cover. Executive Summary Chapter 1. Context, Drivers, and Challenges of Technical and Vocational Skills Development Reform - Chapter 2. Demand for TVET - Chapter 3. TVET Supply, Performance, and Assessment - Chapter 4. TVET Coordination - Chapter 5. TVET Financing - Chapter 6. Policy Recommendations Appendix A. Demand for Skills in Selected Economic Sectors - Appendix B. TVET Provision in Ghana.