Social stigma, weak career incentives, poor accountability and outdated curricula are holding back Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in Africa, limiting its ability to produce the skilled workforce needed for major infrastructure projects.
The challenges, which go beyond funding, were raised by panellists at the 2026 US-Africa Nuclear Energy Summit (USANES) in Accra, who called for reforms to make vocational training more practical, attractive and responsive to labour market needs.
They said the challenges went beyond funding constraints and required reforms in how TVET was perceived, managed and aligned with labour market needs, particularly those of Africa’s emerging nuclear sector.
The panellists argued that unless technical and vocational careers offered clear opportunities for progression and training institutions were equipped to provide practical, industry-relevant skills, TVET would continue to be regarded as a second-choice pathway by many young people and their parents.
The observations were made during a strategic session on “Operationalising Technical and Vocational Systems for Strategic National Infrastructure Development”, under the theme “Technical and Vocational Excellence”.
The discussion examined the structural challenges facing TVET and the reforms needed to reposition vocational training as a strategic component of national development, particularly in preparing skilled personnel for major infrastructure projects and the nuclear power sector.
Director of the Technical and Vocational Skills Training Department at Nigeria’s Industrial Training Fund, Ms Nancy Ekong, said inadequate financing was only one part of the problem, stressing the need for stronger governance and institutional commitment to address the stigma associated with vocational education.
“The major issue is that we look at finances, but then I believe that it is not just finances,” she said, stressing the need for governments to demonstrate sustained commitment to education and skills training.
Ms Ekong cited Nigeria’s career structure as an example of how institutional arrangements could discourage young people from choosing technical education.
She explained that while university graduates could progress to director-level positions in the civil service, polytechnic graduates could face lower career ceilings unless they obtained additional qualifications.
“You will agree with me that no parents will want the child to be stagnated,” she added.
Ms Ekong also highlighted weaknesses in the management and use of training resources, citing an Industrial Training Fund programme that supplied equipment to training institutions.
She said a review conducted about a decade later found that much of the equipment had remained unused because instructors did not know how to operate it.
“We’re talking about a situation that the instructors did not know how to use this equipment,” she said.
She said the experience underscored the need for clearer institutional responsibilities and stronger accountability across Nigeria’s formal and informal training systems.
In Ghana, the Director-General of the Ghana TVET Service, Ing. Dr Eric Kofi Adzroe, said vocational education should be recognised as a direct pathway to employment, wealth creation and national development.
“TVET is the only key to jobs, wealth, and national development,” he stated.
Dr Adzroe outlined efforts to streamline Ghana’s TVET system following the enactment of the Pre-Tertiary Education Act, 2020, which, he said, brought together about 11 agencies previously implementing TVET programmes under nine ministries.
He said the Ghana TVET Service now supervised nearly all the country’s 261 TVET institutions, while efforts were also underway to establish a dedicated TVET Fund to strengthen the sector’s financial independence.
Dr Adzroe, however, identified the relevance of training as a more fundamental challenge than funding alone.
He said a review of Ghana’s training calendar after he assumed office showed that the system did not provide sufficient hands-on instruction.
“This calendar is grammar TVET,” he said, arguing that technical training must be centred on practical skills rather than classroom theory.
He said reforms had subsequently shifted the curriculum towards practical instruction, with practical training now accounting for close to 62 per cent of instruction.
Dr Adzroe also advocated a stronger link between instructor performance and career progression, arguing that promotion should reflect demonstrable results in the classroom.
He said instructors should be able to demonstrate the skills they had imparted to students as evidence of their effectiveness and readiness for promotion.
The discussion underscored the need for African countries to treat TVET as a strategic component of national infrastructure development rather than as an alternative pathway for students who do not pursue university education.
The panellists’ contributions pointed to the importance of aligning curricula with labour-market needs, ensuring that instructors had the practical competencies to deliver training, strengthening accountability for training resources and creating career structures that allowed technically trained professionals to progress.
For countries developing complex infrastructure, including nuclear power programmes, the availability of technicians, artisans and other practically skilled personnel will be essential to complement the scientists, engineers and other professionals required by the sector.
