Hundreds of technical, vocational, education and training (TVET) teachers have begun benefiting from an intensive ten-day training in pedagogy and curriculum development, a Youth and Sports Ministry said in Monrovia on Tuesday.
The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is sponsoring the the training, which is taking place at the recently rehabilitated Monrovia Vocational Training Center (MVTC).
The program is being, implemented by the Inter-Ministerial Task Force on TVET which includes the Ministries of Youth and Sports, Education, Finance, among others.
A Youth and Sports Ministry press release quotes Minister Saah Charles N’Tow as saying, “managing the huge expectations of the Liberian youths about their needs remain cardinal, for both the outgoing and incoming governments.”
N’Tow spoke of the need to adequately prepare the youths by constantly training skills providers.
He called on state actors and partners to invest hugely in the TVET Sector, in order to address the challenge of job provision for young people.
The outgoing Minister of Youth and Sports also said that a National TVET Commission is expected to enhance a qualification framework on the process of entering, advancing through and exiting the TVET system.
Meanwhile, UNESCO’s Officer-In-Charge Stevenson Sadi said TVET is the best alternative to getting the young people ready for the job market and UNESCO been the resource institution among stakeholders.
Sadi lauded outgoing President Ellen Johnson for being instrumental in creating the Inter-Ministerial Task-force which he said worked hard to set up the instruments of running TVET in the country.
The UNESCO Liberia official said TVET is a cost-intensive venture that needs to be prioritized by government and partners, if the challenge of getting jobs for the youth is to be addressed.
“it is saddening that over the years Liberia continues to rely on foreigners to handle jobs that are TVET related, when young people can do it better if they are adequately trained,” Sadi added.