Afriwave Telecom transforms Teshie Orphanage Library into state-of-the-art facilityMinistry Reviews Curriculum To Meet Industry Demands

The management and children of Teshie Orphanage were filled with happiness and excitement when Afriwave Telecom Ghana Limited upgraded their library to a modern standard and provided it with state-of-the-art learning equipment. Afriwave, an indigenous company that operates and manages Ghana's interconnect clearing house (ICH), refurbished the library and resourced it with a thousand space bookshelves and six desktop computers with one year of internet subscription. Mr. Lord Aboagye, Corporate Affairs Officer of Afriwave Telecom Ghana, said in a statement copied?to the Ghana News Agency on Friday that upgrading the Orphanage Library into a cutting-edge facility would greatly help the children.? The initiative exemplifies Afriwave Telecom's commitment to supporting and?improving educational resources?for those who are underprivileged. Mr. Francis Poku, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Afriwave Telecom, was quoted in the statement as adding that the library refurbishment was part of the company's mission t o make a sustainable impact on the lives of disadvantaged children. 'When we, Afriwave, provide support of any kind, our focus is to look at how sustainable and impactful the support is,' he said, adding, 'There is no better way of ensuring the sustainability of an initiative than to invest in the education of our future leaders.' He indicated that Afriwave Telecom would soon launch its SMS platform, which would create a single point for all value-added service (VAS) providers to gain access to mobile network operators from one place. Shedding light on the SMS platform, Mr. Poku noted that Afriwave's SMS platform would help expand the communications needs of customers that route through the ICH. He further said that the SMS platform would not only expand the communications needs of customers but would also allow them to experience seamless messaging and transparency in billing. This would enable customers to stay in control of costs and make informed decisions. He urged VAS providers, banks, corporate o rganisations, and players in the telecom industry to take advantage of the platform for their messaging needs. Currently, the ICH is fully connected to all the telecommunication providers in Ghana and is already carrying all interconnect voice traffic in the country. Mr. Poku urged the orphanage to continue to nurture these young children to restore the confidence they need as children to grow into better adults. Mr. and Mrs. Parker, founders of the home, thanked Afriwave for their generosity at such a crucial time of the year. Mrs. Parker further expressed her gratitude to the entire management and staff of Afriwave for nominating the home to be recognised in such a manner. Teshie Orphanage is a private and nongovernmental organisation that provides shelter and a homely atmosphere for orphans and vulnerable children within the Teshie community. It is managed with the assistance of benevolent individuals and organisations to educate and care for these children and equip them to face the challenges of th e world. The Ministry of Education, through the State Department for Technical Vocational Education Training (TVET), will ensure competency-based education and training (CBET) is fully implemented across all the TVET institutions in the country. Speaking at the Eldoret National Polytechnic in Eldoret, Uasin Gishu, during a CBET delivery workshop for all TVET principals in Rift Valley, the Principal Secretary State Department for TVET, Dr. Esther Muoria, said the department will roll out the CBET model of training and at the same time recraft the curriculum to address the skills gap among the youth. She added that they have also begun retooling the trainers to enable them to pass over to youth industry-based skills. She noted that they have re-energised the curriculum through the Curriculum Delivery Assessment and Certification Council (CDAC), an examining body of TVETs. 'We have been going around other regions to ensure that CBET is being well delivered; we have put in place a CBET delivery unit to go around the whole country and see to it that we have shifted from theory training to competency-based training,' she said. She further noted that CBET is skilling the youth through partnerships with industry and other working partners to ensure 50 to 70 per cent of the training of the youth is going to be done in industry and the other 50 to 30 per cent in the classroom setting. 'One of the other things that the department wants to do is train with the industry, if it is the textile industry, like in this region, we have Rivatex that has developed an MoU with this institution so that our students train partly here and partly at Rivatex,' said Dr. Muoria. She indicated that by the time our young people are graduating, they will not only have the skills but also have been integrated into that industry. Dr. Muoria said that CBET is ideal for ensuring the youth acquire the requisite skills to work in industries outside the country. She added that the department, in collaboration with GIZ and other working partners, is d oing its best to link all the technical institutions to industries, especially the Jua Kali industries and Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to ensure the youth learn skills. The PS hinted at the TVET framework for assessment and certification on the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL), where someone who may have acquired skills and experience in a certain field, like arts and others, can be assessed in the TVETs and be awarded a certificate. On his part, TVET/CDACC CEO/Council Secretary, Prof. Kisilu Kitainge, said that they are going to develop TVET curriculum while reviewing the one in place to ensure that it complies with the expectations of industry. 'We are continuing to review and also develop others that have not been in existence; the assessment is ongoing,' said Kitainge. Prof. Kitainge said that the council is set to release all certificates by December 20th this year for all CBET assessments for those who did their assessments earlier. The CEO revealed that there are 7256 students cu rrently sitting for assessment and that the number is expected to rise to more than 100,000 for the March 2024 assessment. Source: Kenya News Agency