By thinking, learning, and doing together, WorldSkills Ghana and WorldSkills Germany has been able to build something empowering, fun, forward-thinking, and relevant. Most importantly, it can be activated through self-agency.
Accelerating progress towards national strength in skills
When individual countries develop their skills, the benefits reverberate across communities and industries. When these skills are shared internationally, the benefits are felt further, reach higher and are achieved more quickly.
With decades of success in WorldSkills Competitions and extensive Vocational Education and Training (VET) networks, WorldSkills Germany was the perfect partner for WorldSkills Ghana as it sought to develop its own in-country VET strategy. The vision was to create a partnership of equals, to move away from the model that sees the receiving country reliant on international aid and instead hand them the tools to construct their own future.
So, in 2020, WorldSkills Germany set about offering WorldSkills Ghana those tools, by imparting its first-hand insights around how to roll out skills education, boosting the numbers of teachers and training pathways in the West African country.
Being seconded to the WorldSkills Ghana secretariat, Alba Losert from WorldSkills Germany was able to use Germany’s experience to advise on Ghana’s strategic plans for VET. Trainers were assigned to each skill to help students prepare for competitions. And a “train the trainer” programme was implemented to build the capacity of educators and cascade best practices through VET colleges and schools.
In just three years of partnership, WorldSkills Germany has helped WorldSkills Ghana to:
- Train teachers across the country
- Host its own National skills competition across 14 skills
- Win four medals at WorldSkills Africa Swakopmund 2022
- Successfully establish a new, bespoke VET strategy which is laser-focused on developing the skills that will drive Ghana’s own economic and social development
The relationship reaps mutual rewards, modelling a future where knowledge, resources and capabilities flow in all directions. WorldSkills Germany helps create global, sustainable VET infrastructures, while WorldSkills Ghana accesses Germany’s years of experience to fast-track its own skills journey towards developing a highly skilled workforce to secure the country’s economic future. And the partnership has built significant skills momentum, fast.
Hubert Romer reflects, "We want to invite other Members to join this partnership framework, so that every organization or nation – large or small – can benefit from connections that will quicken their journey to skills excellence. And as WorldSkills Germany, we promise we will continue to look for more connections that can help expand knowledge, share resources, and unlock opportunities to help skills grow, all the spirit of the WorldSkills movement.”