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Electronics manufacturing giant Samsung West Africa alongside partners, German Cooperation (GIZ) and Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) have put their collective weight behind the formation of a Female Professional in Electronics body.

The Female Professional in Electronics aims at seeing Ghanaian women up-skilled in technical and electronic skills allowing them to compete against their male counterparts for good quality economic opportunities.

The project will provide four state-of-the-art electronics labs installed at Vocational Training Centres in Don Bosco Vocational Institute, Ashaiman, Pentecost Vocational Training Centre, Gbawe, Accra Girls Vocational Institute (AGVI) and CYO Technical-Vocational institute in Sovie, Volta Region.

For two institutes, Accra Girls and Don Bosco, the project will provide two additional classrooms each constructed from pre-fabricated, mobile housing units.

Managing Director of Samsung Electronics West Africa, Mr. Jingak Chung addressing the gathering comments that “one of our key goals at Samsung is to support education. This partnership is a major leap and a progressive step in equipping women with skills beyond primary industries such as needlework, cosmetic, and secretary to finding quality jobs through vocational training which can create more income and added value to the electronics sector.”

He added that the Female Professionals in Electronics project is expected to increase the number of women making advances in the male dominated industry of Electronics tipping the scales and positioning women as knowledgeable contributors to the industry.

According to him, Samsung’s core business relies heavily on being able to access skilled people in the engineering and technological fields; so joining forces and improving formation such as the Female Professionals in Electronics Project makes sense from all angles.

Delivering the keynote address at the launch, the Minister of Education, Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang commended the government of Ghana, KOICA, GIZ and Samsung Group for their various roles in ensuring that this dream is realized as through their efforts have brought forth the landmark inauguration of females in professional electronics.

The Minister of Education hinted that the key objective of the project is to promote future female professionals and technicians in sales, installation and servicing of electrical appliances by enhancing their technical capacity through demand driven vocational training.

“Through the training, the girls will gain knowledge, technical capabilities, communication skills and the necessary self-confidence to compete in the growing market and thus generate income for themselves and their growing families,” she stated at the launch.

She stressed that “the project seeks to train about 100 female graduates in Electronics from approximately 4 percent to 30 percent by 2017. This is expected to increase the number of female role models in TVET and whip up interest of more girls in the so called male dominated trades.”

She maintained that the achievements of these international partners with support from the government of Ghana has helped considerably in addressing the challenges related to technical and vocational education in the country to a large extent.

She however hoped that the skills acquired under this project will help in the employability of the graduands and enhance their productivity and livelihood.

It was highlighted that the project is being piloted in 4 Vocational Institutes namely Don Bosco Vocational in Ashaiman, Accra Girls Vocational Institute in Tesano, Pentecost Vocational Training Centre in Gbawe and CYO Vocational Institute in Sovie in the Volta Region.

The project therefore in these 4 selected Vocational Institutes will give 117 girls the opportunity to benefit from the Females in Professional Electronics Project.