Ghana Needs a Skills Revolution to Power Industrialisation

Ghana’s education system has produced generations of graduates, but the country is still struggling to build enough skilled workers to support large-scale industrial growth. The gap is increasingly visible across the economy: manufacturers complain about shortages of technicians, mechanics and machine operators, while thousands of young people leave school each year without employable, industry-ready skills.

With more than 380,000 new job seekers entering the labour market each year, the country cannot industrialise without a workforce trained to operate, maintain and improve machinery.

A study by the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) in Ghana and the Ghana TVET Service has exposed a widening mismatch between the skills taught in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions and the competencies demanded by Ghana’s fast-changing economy.

The study, conducted in the Ashanti Region between 2024 and 2025, found that only 24% of surveyed institutions deliver Competency-Based Training (CBT) exclusively, despite evidence that CBT is more effective in preparing learners for employment. High implementation costs, weak infrastructure and shortages of qualified facilitators remain persistent barriers.

If Ghana wants industrialisation to move beyond policy statements into real production, it will need a structural shift in how it trains its people. That shift starts with making vocational and technical skills becoming a core part of the national curriculum, not a last resort.

Industrialisation runs on skills, not slogans

Industrial growth is ultimately a question of production capacity, and production capacity depends on labour. Not just labour in general, but labour that can install, repair, troubleshoot and scale machines.

Mechanisation across agriculture, manufacturing, mining, construction and logistics requires technicians who understand engines, welding, electrical systems, industrial maintenance, refrigeration, fabrication and automation. Without these workers, Ghana will continue importing both equipment and the expertise required to keep it running.

That dependence raises costs, weakens local value chains and limits job creation.

Start earlier: vocational training from Basic 6 to JHS

Ghana can begin building a stronger skills pipeline by introducing structured practical training earlier, starting from Basic 6 through Junior High School.

At that stage, learners are old enough to grasp foundational skills such as carpentry, metalwork, electrical basics, measurement and design, plumbing, garment-making, safety standards and basic digital fabrication.

The objective is not to turn 12-year-olds into mechanics. It is to expose students to real-world competencies early, help them discover strengths, and reduce the stigma that technical education is only for students who “couldn’t make it” academically.

That stigma remains one of Ghana’s biggest obstacles to building an industrial workforce.

A clearer technical pathway beyond JHS

At the JHS level, vocational education cannot remain mostly theoretical. Students should spend structured hours in workshops, with competency assessments linked to practical outcomes.

By SHS, Ghana needs a more organised technical track that is as respected as general arts and science. Students who pursue technical training should have access to modern equipment, properly trained instructors and clear links to apprenticeship opportunities in industry.

Countries that built strong manufacturing economies did not do it by focusing only on university degrees. They built deep technical pipelines and apprenticeship systems.

Universities must produce builders, not only designers

At the tertiary level, Ghana’s engineering and technology programmes still lean too heavily toward theory. Many graduates leave university with limited exposure to industrial systems, leaving employers to spend time and money retraining them before they can contribute in factories, plants and production lines.

Universities should expand applied learning in areas such as industrial maintenance, automation, robotics, mechatronics, machine tooling, welding technology, agritech engineering, energy systems, refrigeration and manufacturing design.

Ghana also needs stronger mid-level technical institutions that sit between SHS and university, producing high-level technicians who form the backbone of industrial operations.

Train for the economy Ghana wants to build

Skills training cannot be generic. It must align with the industrial priorities Ghana is actively pursuing.

If Ghana wants mechanised agriculture, it must train people who can maintain tractors, irrigation systems, harvesters and processing equipment.

If Ghana wants to scale manufacturing, it must train people who can operate and repair production lines, electrical panels, motors, compressors and boilers.

If Ghana wants to expand automotive assembly and light engineering, it must produce welders, fitters, spray painters, machine operators and quality inspectors.

Industrial policy without skills development becomes an expensive promise.

Skills reform will fail without factories

One of the biggest risks is training people for jobs that do not exist. Ghana can expand vocational education, but without factories and industrial expansion, the country will simply create a larger pool of skilled but unemployed youth.

This is why skills reform must be paired with industrial development.

Government must support industrial zones, manufacturing clusters, agro-processing hubs and mechanisation centres across regions. These facilities will absorb trainees, provide apprenticeships and turn skills into employment.

Government and private sector must co-invest

A national vocational upgrade will require funding beyond what schools can carry. Workshops need equipment. Teachers need retraining. Students need materials. Certification systems need enforcement.

Government can lead through policy and funding, but industry must play a direct role through apprenticeships, curriculum input, equipment support and partnerships with training institutions.

Banks and investors also have a role. If Ghana wants industrialisation, financing must extend beyond trade and imports into productive enterprises such as factories, repair hubs, assembly plants and maintenance services.

A skills ladder Ghana can build

A workable national model would be a three-tier pipeline, First, structured vocational exposure at Basic 6 and JHS.
Second, strengthened technical pathways at SHS, tied to apprenticeships.
Third, expanded applied training at universities and technical institutions, linked directly to industrial employment.

This would create a skills ladder where learners can progress from early exposure to specialisation and work, without being forced into a one-size-fits-all academic system.

The long-term payoff

Investing in vocational and technical skills will not only reduce unemployment. It will raise productivity, lower machinery maintenance costs, reduce dependence on foreign technicians, and improve the competitiveness of local industries.

It will also strengthen Ghana’s ability to attract manufacturing investment. Investors assess power, logistics and policy stability, but they also look for skilled labour. A country that cannot supply technicians will struggle to host large-scale industrial plants, regardless of its ambitions.

Ghana’s future is not only degrees, it is competence

Ghana does not need to abandon academic education. It needs to balance it.

The world will always need skilled people, and Ghana’s growth will depend on whether it trains citizens who can build, repair, operate and scale the machines that power modern economies.

If Ghana wants industrialisation, vocational and technical education must move from the margins to the mainstream. And it must be matched with real factories, real industries and real opportunities that convert skills into national prosperity.