In Part 1 of my article “Welding in a 24-Hour Economy,” I indicated that welding is one of the key skills needed in the Ghanaian domestic industries and sectors such as agro-processing, oil and gas, automotive, shipbuilding, metal manufacturing, steel construction, renewable energy, etc. I also emphasised that Ghana needs to build a national welding capacity to help create jobs and open entrepreneurial opportunities.
Part 2 of “Welding in a 24-Hour Economy” presents ideas, suggestions, and comments on how the National Apprenticeship Programme (NAP) can catalyze the implementation of career paths and routes in welding for job creation and entrepreneurship.
President John Dramani Mahana has made it known to Ghanaians (reference: NDC 2024 manifesto), that the NAP will be a platform “to generate self-employment through the provision of free technical and vocational training for young people in various crafts, and trained apprentices will be issued with appropriate certification and supported with start-up capital and equipment to set up businesses”.
Undoubtedly, the NAP will be a great start in building Ghana’s national welding capacity, especially by establishing career paths and routes for job creation and entrepreneurship in welding for the youth, women, and persons with disabilities (PWDs).
Firstly, the NAP should be available for Ghanaians with some form of education from first-, second-, or third-cycle institutions to learn welding. Also, Ghanaians with some level of education but unemployed should be encouraged to enroll in the NAP by considering welding as a profession. It is not lost on me that in Ghana, most school leavers and graduates studied business and arts-related courses in colleges and universities.
The NAP could be one of the avenues for learning industry-oriented and employable skills to help boost Ghana’s welding manufacturing capabilities while reducing unemployment among the youth.
Secondly, the NAP should strategically and innovatively be available to the informal and formal sectors to help streamline education, skills training, qualification, and certification processes and quality issues across both sectors. The NAP could be one of the platforms to acquire and obtain welding education, training, and qualification in both the informal and formal sectors and be certified according to international welding standards like the International Institute of Welding (IIW) framework.
The IIW framework covers the education, training, qualification and certification of International Welding Engineers (IWE), International Welding Technologists (IWT), International Welding Specialists (IWS), International Welding Practitioners (IWP) and International Welding Inspectors (IWI). Other IIW Qualifications cover the International Welder (IW), International Structural Welding Designer (IWSD), and International Mechanised, Orbital and Robotised Welding Personnel (IMORW).
The IIW framework has structures for career paths and routes in welding. Therefore, having a pool of learners with varied educational backgrounds considering welding as a profession through the NAP could set the stage for creating career paths and routes in welding in a harmonized system toward job creation and entrepreneurship in Ghana. The Ghana Welding Bureau (GWB) is the responsible member society of IIW, and Ghana stands to benefit immensely when the standards, framework, structures, and best practices in welding are adopted and implemented.
On the other hand, it is a known fact that training welding personnel is costly. In Ghana, it is expensive to access quality welding training. Secondly, few technical institutions and training centers are well-equipped to offer welding training programs. The assumption is that welding career paths and routes are relatively non-existent in Ghana. These and other challenges are the concerns of Ghanaians seeking careers in welding in Ghana.
A point to note is that when Part 1 of “Welding in a 24-hour Economy” was published, I received several commentaries. One of the fascinating commentaries was made by Mr. Abraham Junior Kudjo. His concerns relate to sub-standard welding training institutions in Ghana and the expensive fees demanded for welding training.
The Ghana government and other donor partners’ financial interventions remain essential in the training of welding personnel while establishing career paths and routes in the welding profession in Ghana. Subsidizing welding training, equipping welding training institutions with the needed tools and resources, and equipping beneficiaries when they complete welding training are the desired outcomes Ghanaians hope to experience in this current era of Industry 4.0.
Digitization, as the backbone of Industry 4.0 has revolutionized the welding industry in developed nations where welding simulators play a major role by reducing the cost, time, and deliverables in the training of welding personnel. Empirical data shows that using a welding simulator enhances welder training, and 34% more welders can be certified than the traditional method.
Also, welding simulators help to reduce welding training costs and environmental impact by 68%, reduce learning time by 56%, and avoid accidents in the workshop by 84%. It will be beneficial to read my article from the link attached to understand why welding training institutions in Ghana need to utilize digital technologies, and the Ghana government and donor partners should promote the use of digitized systems in welding training and other related skills training programs. (https://www.modernghana.com/news/1133501/utilize-digital-technologies-to-enhance-welding.html).
In conclusion, it will be beneficial and advantageous if the Ghana government and donor partners’ financial interventions are channeled to alleviate the issues and concerns raised. Also, while the Ghana government is focusing on boosting the supply of technical and vocational skills through the NAP, much attention and focus should be paid to the use of skills acquired.
The use of skills, in this case welding, is where the most benefit of the welding training can be accrued in establishing career paths and routes in welding for job creation and entrepreneurship.
More to follow on the “use of skills” in Part 3 of “Welding in a 24-Hour Economy”.
Author
Dr. Emmanuel Afrane Gyasi won the International Institute of Welding (IIW) 2024 prestigious Chris Smallbone Award. Additionally, the IIW conferred on him as an outstanding individual who has made a significant contribution to improving the global quality of life through the optimum use and innovation of welding and joining technologies in his region and internationally. He is pursuing the international welding engineer (IWE) course at The Welding Institute (TWI), UK. He is a research and development engineer and a social entrepreneur.
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