Skill Acquisition and Job Security: Empowering the Kaya-Yei

Of all the images of Ghanaians celebrating the 2016 election results featured on TV and other social media, the one that affected me most was that which captured female porters (Kaya-Yei) in a euphoric rhythmic match in Kumasi, rhythm created by the clanging of head pans, the emblem of their profession. What brought a lump into my throat was the explanation I received for their jubilation: During the 2012 election campaign, the NPP Flagbearer, Nana Akuffo-Addo, had promised them a hostel. His opponents had rubbished that promise yet did not provide accommodation for the porters while they were in power. His victory in 2016 raised the porters’ hope that their accommodation need would be fulfilled, hence, the euphoria. To wit, in this government, the Kaya-Yei can foresee an end to their street life, the homelessness that exposes them to constant sexual harassment and associated problems.

I labelled the Kaya-Yei women of hope; they have a right to expect improvement to their lifestyle. At central lorry stations and major market areas in Accra and Kumasi, one finds Kaya-Yei living horribly. Some live outside shops, on pavements. Not only are they easy prey for male sexual predators, but they are also at the mercy of the weather. The image of a toddler strapped to its mother’s chest, both dead, in the June 3 disaster still haunts many Ghanaians. One can, therefore, fully appreciate the Kaya-Yei's desperate desire for secure accommodation.

In other words, the porters have a basic, urgent need, and decision makers must be pragmatic and address that need while roping in steps that would enable the porters to have other options in life. It is good that the planners of the Alhaji Aliu Mahama anniversary targeted the empowerment of the Kaya-Yei; hopefully, they avoided the pitfall of generalising the Kaya-Yei issue. If the planners worked hand-in-hand with the various porter groups, they probably ascertained common and unique needs. Such a collaboration would not only be effective in targeting a long-term solution, but it would also dignify the hardworking females with a voice.

However, the Kaya-Yei would be dignified, not by free accommodation, but by empowering them financially so that they can pay for their accommodation. Theirs is a precarious trade indeed, with hardly any financial security. Yet government’s efforts to improve their livelihood in the past have been topsy-turvy. This time, however, stakeholders should ensure that a laudable government initiative does not fall through. There is a reference.

Empowering Apprenticeship

In 2012, I interviewed a cross-section of artisans from Bolgatanga and two other regional capitals. Among the interviewees were beauticians whose apprentices included former Kaya-Yei. A beautician in Bolgatanga praised Afrikids, an international NGO, for sustaining apprenticeship projects. She explained that Afrikids would place the unskilled in vocational programmes, support them financially till apprentices completed the training, then set them up in business, so that the beneficiaries can work and pay back the starting capital. I met three of them.

She then compared Afrikids with Asongtaba, the Government Organization that was handling a similar rehabilitation programme. She said that Asongtaba placed unskilled ones in the apprenticeship programme and left the latter to their fate. At the time, three Kaya-Yei in the programme had abandoned the training and returned to Accra for over a year, but the Organization was not even aware of that development. The Beautician explained the females’ action: They were earning a living as Kaya-Yei in Accra. Asongtaba recruited and enrolled them in apprenticeship, but it would not remit the apprentices. When the latter realised that no remittance was forthcoming, they returned to their trade in Accra. Will the current initiative travel the Afrikids path or take the Asongtaba way? Only time will tell.

Was Asongtaba resourced enough and monitored to ensure that it fulfilled its mandate as a Government oversight agency? Which collaborations did it forge? Did government demand scheduled feedback as a monitoring strategy? Did the Agency reach out to the casualties? Was there a human motive? Some drivers in Bolga gave similar accounts about Afrikids. So there is proof of the latter’s commitment and Asongtaba’s negligence. Such gaps have railroaded Kaya-Yei rehabilitation programmes in the past. Could the current planners take a cue from Afrikids, strategize to ensure that the Kaya-Yei acquire genuine skills for secure vocation, since that is the only avenue through which to meet the UN’s SDG target of fighting extreme cyclical poverty.

Closely aligned with skill acquisition is the job security such initiatives can offer the Kaya-Yei. Acquired skill would create options for dignified jobs for the women. Currently, the porters carry loads, the weight of which could never be imagined by some of us, for a pittance. There is no regulation regarding load charges. Most times, they leave it to the person that has hired them to determine a fee. If there was a structure and weight determined charges, the Kaya-Yei would not be so susceptible to exploitation. They would earn enough for decent food and accommodation and save for a rainy day. As it is, the unskilled is compelled to such hedged in existence; skill will open avenues for them.

Diverse Background

Yet, the Kaya-Yei have varied socio-cultural and economic stories, so the rehabilitation initiative must have a broad plan that can cater to various aspirations. An appreciable majority ran to the regional capitals to avoid being forced into marriage; others escaped from oppressive marriages. Some of them are victims of parental neglect or extreme poverty or social persecution. Some had a bit of education before they were compelled to take up that trade, hence, there are some bright females buried under loads, horribly underutilised, and who would love to get opportunity to study. It would therefore not augur well to clump the Kaya-Yee in a generalised rehabilitation programme. As stakeholders, they must have a voice in the direction their lives should take.

Apparently, the national goal is to nurture and unleash the full human potential of the Kaya-Yei in order to reduce or clear dependency. To achieve that, the rehabilitation programme must be backgrounded by a rich literacy programme. Any hostel that should be built for the porters should have reading rooms. Once they achieve a proficiency in reading, boarders should commit to spaced formal learning which should be well-integrated with the trade. COTVET, NVTI and the Institute of Adult Education ought to collaborate to ensure that the Kaya-Yei become empowered through intellectual development.

The NVTI has several vocational training programmes, ranged from beginner to advanced, which could accommodate various aspirations of the Kaya-Yei. It has programmes for the illiterate, semi-literate and secondary school graduates. Best of all, it could tailor a formalised apprenticeship programme for the Kaya Yei. The Institute of Adult Education could design a flexible literacy programme to suit various learning groups. COTVET would fund and oversee the project for quality and certification.                      

A major challenge to formal learning would be the Kaya-Yei themselves. Having lived as independent income earners, they would find it difficult to invest in learning, thinking they would be losing money. A tactful approach would get her to appreciate that they belong to the unemployed in disguise. In other words, the literacy programme could feature critical thinking and ethics that might enable the Kaya-Yei to develop an appropriate perspective of developing the human capital, rather than chase heavy loads yet barely eke out a living.  

Meanwhile, their lives could be made a lot easier if they used a tri-cycle to cart loads instead of carrying them. Credit groups could collaborate with metropolitan assemblies the anniversary planners, and Ministry of Children and Gender to design a system of hire-purchase of tri-cycles for the Kaya-Yei. A daily collection would ensure regular payment and eventual ownership. Of course, there would be tracking and other security issues, but therein lies the challenge. Credit groups should design innovative loan facilities for such vulnerable groups too, instead of constantly and viciously harassing salaried workers with loans. It would be a social service if the facilities lent to the Kaya-Yei at a very low interest rate such as 3 %. Everyone has a role to play in the rehabilitation, since the porters’ well-being is our well-being.

Improving the livelihood of the vulnerable Kaya-Yei would be a win-win situation for the entire nation. They are highly prone to rape and diseases, unwanted pregnancy and unplanned childbirth, all of which perpetuate a vicious cycle of extreme poverty. Such environment breeds wayward people who prey on hardworking citizens. Indeed, yanking the Kaya-Yei from their harsh existence would be a huge favour for the tax payer. So a holistic approach to the Kaya-Yei situation would be key to its sustainability, a stone that would kill many birds.

Male Porters

Male porters fall within the same brackets of rehabilitation. Virile young men who could perform well in various industries are trapped under heavy loads and other menial jobs, seriously underutilised. They are also limited by illiteracy. Sometimes they pull wooden trucks of mountainous loads. In some cases, the truck represents a graduation from carrying loads on the head; it could be outsourced to other pushers, in which case, the owner becomes the real beneficiary. Tri-cycles would ease the manual labour a bit, since there is a seat for the handler. Of course, literacy will enable some of them to opt for other vocations, leaving anti-social behaviour behind. Male or female, the porters deserve a break and dignified vocations.

The rehabilitation should be human-oriented, not politically-motivated; the porters must be considered as humans in need of assistance, not as a political score. The real target should be reducing dependency, aiding porters to acquire life-long vocational skills. Once skilled, they could secure jobs and discard street life; society would benefit. If sustained jobs raised the financial status of the porters, extreme poverty would be reduced. Above all, if the porters found other vocations and earned decent income, they would be able to look at themselves with dignity, because they would be independent citizens. That would be development!

Technical University in Ghana: The Impediments

 “For far too long vocational learning has been seen as the poor relation of academic learning”. John Hayes, MP, Minister of State for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning, UK.

One of the reasons this nation is experiencing stagnant growth across sectors is that it has consistently failed to utilise education to address its needs. Decades of compromising educational standards have yielded a horrible reality of generations whose porous skills effectively bar them from securing jobs. The number of unemployed graduates was expected to hit 271,000 in September 2015, though it might have reduced bynow. Governments may not have created adequate jobs over the years, and nations across the globe may be experiencing employment mismatch, but it is equally undeniable that educational institutions have also failed to produce the type of human resources needed by industry, and Ghanaian learning institutions are major culprits. This article focuses on polytechnics and technical universities in the country.

The irony of employment mismatch is that whilst energetic youth are unoccupied, employers have positions that cannot be filled. When learning institutions pretend to impart knowledge or run moribund curricula, they produce graduates whose skills are dated. One graduate who completed a programme in Textiles Technology in one Ghanaian polytechnic is currently with GTP. When I inquired about the relevance of the programme to the work on the field, the reply was numbing: “It is like one and two.What we were taught in the programme is completely different from what pertains in industry, but I’m happytohave this opportunity to learn”. Then there was an appeal: “Please speak to the school authority to get things changed”.

Not every graduate will share this negative experience; yet the fact remains that industry keeps complaining about the poor skills graduates bring to the job. Whilst some programmes may be dated, some courses have appreciable currency, but they are handled so poorly by faculty that students barely gain from the courses. Paradoxically, the graduate quoted above pursued a programme in textiles technology, which presupposes that the programme would reflect current learning and manufacturing trend. Academic Departments that claim to be running technology courses have a responsibility to refine programmes to match technological trends. Due to the rapid evolution of technology, if Technical/Vocational programmes do not match industrial trends, graduates lose, and so do communities and nations. Ghana is experiencing that.

The success of the polytechnic concept rests on the currency of hands-on curricula; innovative teachers also bring current trends to their teaching, so even when curricula review or change is delayed, learners do not lose. Teacher innovation stems from quality action and applied research, which shed light on teaching, industrial, environmental, socio-cultural and entrepreneurial dynamics, to mention these. When institutions, teachers and the taught are aware of these forces at work, they can embark on skill acquisition paths that simultaneously fulfil personal, community, national and global aspirations. Products of such learning environment neither wallow in the house nor offer mediocre services; they excel at assigned tasks and bring innovation to the job and community.Industry desires such smart graduates. Technical universities in the country must aspire to that.

The Nation was not able fulfil the polytechnic concept before it prematurely hurdled to the technical university arena. In November 2017, I asked 19 first year students to comment on the statement, “[t]he Technical University Concept in Ghana is a misnomer”. They acknowledged in their writing that the concept is not being practiced; many others share that sentiment. That acknowledgement highlights a conundrum: Institutions are designated technical universities, but their activities belie their label. The fundamental reasons for that contradiction are academic.

This is the era of knowledge economy, operational through the Theory of Mind – the human capacity to understand issues affecting self and others, accepting and respecting differences.The application of acquired knowledge has yielded abundant information on diverse issues, some previously undreamt of; communication technology is at a peak due to the availability of dynamic information. Excellent reading, comprehension and analytical skills are crucial in accessing available information for knowledge. However, our basic education has become so porous that products have severe reading and comprehension challenges. Due to poor monitoring and institutional compromises, even struggling pupils are pushed through to the secondary schools. Over there, due to staggering numbers and fixation on extra-classes, students do not receive much help. The compromises continue up to the tertiary level where majority and the promising opt for traditional universities, leaving the polytechnics to absorb the extremely weak ones. Technical university status has not changed that anomaly.

The telling effects of the porous work being done at the primary and secondary levels are felt most acutely in the polytechnic and technical university classrooms. When students have stark reading and comprehension challenges, operating the knowledge economy is such a chore, because learners barely understand the forces that motivate humans to tackle issues of education, communication, globalization, quality and standards, gender inequality, extreme poverty, sanitation and hygiene, safe waste management, health, free trade, migration, maternal/infant mortality, population explosion, peace and security, religious fanaticism, terrorism, unemployment, youth empowerment, corruption, political delinquency, job security, tolerance, information technology, social media, fake news, deforestation, child molestation, natural disasters, climate change, to mention these, at local and international levels. When learners lack appreciation for issues impacting their daily existence, the probability that they will be critical thinkers and assume conscientious attitude tends to be low, sometimes impossible. That is the bane of Ghana, but polytechnics and technical universities get saddled with majority of such poor human elements.

Technical universities evolve from technical institutions which rigorously pursue academic excellence; they are not created by political appendage, as was done in Ghana. Logically, therefore, they pursue high-powered, innovative and applied research, engendered by super reading, comprehension and analytical skills. Teachers and learners appreciate the issues that affect humanity and not only address such through innovative research but also apply knowledge to improve human existence. We are all beneficiaries of such research. On the contrary, the products admitted into Ghana’s technical university classrooms are not equipped for such quality academic research; a lot of the teachers equate research with promotion. Most students are incapable of close reading which can help them to grasp the underlying principles of their chosen fields and strive for innovation. Logic and reasoning are endangered species in such spaces. At best, students observe and replicate existing works; but superficial knowledge cannot yield the type of intellectual excellence which characterizes technical university work, and which pushes communities and nations forward. Yet, the learners are not just lazy or dumb; primary and secondary education failed to endow most with the fundamental skills for advanced studies, for university work.

The real offence lies in the inability of the universities to appreciably fill the huge gaps of knowledge created by porous educational foundation. Students with weak skills are shoved into advanced programmes when they should be taken through immersion courses in literacy, numeracy and communication, which can help and prepare them for diploma/certificate or professional programmes. The worst academic move made by the polytechnics in the past was to marginalize diploma programmes for the Higher National Diploma programmes. The consequence is that students who have no basics from the secondary school are plunged into advanced professional programmes, some of which are handled quite superficially. Logically, many complete with porous skills, compounded by appalling communication skills. Some are maintained by the institutions, therefore, the knowledge they impart is somewhat deficient. Many others have become the foundation for technical university. It is a vicious cycle.

What is worse, hands-on training has been slipping for years, whereas technology necessitates practice. A cross-section of polytechnic and technical university teachers are myopic and limit their students to information teachers have produced in hand-outs or books instead of exposing students to diverse academic research material which can stimulate intellectual development. Students pass the courses of such teachers if they purchase such nauseous materials. Even introductory ICT is taught in that skewed manner, so how would learners grasp the basics of information technology in order to utilise such for innovation in their professional courses? In the end, secondary students who are ill-prepared for the tertiary classroom are further limited by unethical teaching practices. Instead of intellectual, socio-cultural and entrepreneurial development, learners are infantilised and packaged off to industry, ill-prepared for the competitive workforce.

The systems have continued to lack the flexibility which hallmarks Technical/Vocational systems elsewhere. The polytechnic concept, among others, offers a legitimate option to learners who do not want to study for a lengthy period, who want to combine studies with work. Such categories desire to intersperse studies with learning over a stretched period or take a terminal course for life-long skills. Proactive institutions have designed professional programmes that accommodate different categories of learners, even those with learning challenges. Not every learner desires a higher diploma or degree studies. It is crucial that the system is redesigned to attract diverse categories of learners, with a special focus on the teeming hawking youth/unemployed in disguise. Of course, accommodation does not imply compromising standards, so whether learners enrol in full-time or part-time programmes, diploma or certificate courses, they must possess literacy and numeracy skills, which equip learners for competent professional training and practice.

Sadly, Ghanaian polytechnics have consistently compromised admission standards; those converted to tertiary universities have maintained the status quo. The calibre of students admitted determines the level of intellectual work done in the classrooms; majority have a lackadaisical attitude towards academic work. A cross-section of teachers is equally apathetic about teaching. When Technical/Vocational students lack the desire to study, and teachers are dispassionate about practical teaching, government facesa diabolical combination for a national disaster, and that aptly summarises Ghana’s situation. A technical university concept is inoperable in such an environment.

The Minister quoted above has also asserted that in spite of “many calls over the years for greater parity of esteem between academic and vocation qualifications, in practice this has meant making what is practical more academic, to the detriment of both”. Ghana’s situation is worse due to deteriorating educational standards, poor monitoring, pathetic investment and poor appreciation for technical education, to name four. Another difference is that the UK consistently refines its system. In 2009, the Secretary of State for Education commissioned an educationist to evaluate the vocational system and recommend effective measures for improvement. The outcomes can be found in the Wolf Reports available on-line. Most importantly, Government has been implementing the recommendations.

It is not enough to acknowledge that Technical/Vocational education is crucial for national development. The system has been ailing for decades and requires radical attention. Unless the porous structures are rigorously rectified, any funds sunk into the system will, at best, replicate defective training systems. In principle, Ghana has an empowering Technical/Vocational framework, but the implementation is flawed, and to a very large extent, leading agencies have lost focus of the human-centred natureof the system. That goal can be recaptured, because sankofa,wonkyi, which literally translates, it is not a taboo to go back for what one has forgotten. If for nothing at all, the young blood fleeing the country for slavery, torture and horrible death on deserts, in Libya and Europe should make us retrace our steps, restructure the Technical/Vocational system, targeting skills, job security and dignified existence.

The Best Memorial for Alhaji Aliu Mahama

Demonstrating gratitude to loyal citizens, even posthumously, is always an honourable thing.        Undoubtedly, the late former Vice President, Mr. Aliu Mahama would beam handsomely for his remembrance, if he could witness it. But I am positive that he would even be happier if he was remembered for his passion for cleanliness and sanitation. It is a pity that his passionate campaign could not motivate fellow country people to collaborate with him for sustainable safe waste management. The poor support must have galled him.

Whilst it is logical to include general cleaning in the activities slated for his anniversary, it would be

Unsorted waste is simply dumped

excellent if the occasion would be used to commence a new culture in safe waste management, persuade the general populace to be conscientious managers of waste. The anniversary should be a radical departure from the usual mass cleaning which end in dumping waste on the curb of gutters, only for wind and rain to litter and return to the gutters. It should begin a conscientious agenda in waste sorting and recycling to protect health and the environment. All residents have a responsibility to review their attitude towards waste. It is time for a new waste culture in Ghana.

Evidently, majority of Ghanaians are not rethinking their position on waste management that is why they litter, which is the reason we are engulfed by filth. Through our poor management of waste, we degrade the environment, deface the country and subject ourselves to preventable diseases and death. We neglect our sanitation responsibilities, then blame witches and politicians for our maladies. When other communities are creating wealth out of filth, we spend huge amounts of money on filth and sacrifice precious lives on its altar. The nation failed the then Vice President when it denied him a sustainable support for a clean Ghana.

However, it is never too late to do the right thing, the conscientious thing, especially, when it concerns this space we call our home. Hitherto, it was the late Vice President’s campaign; this 5^th anniversary should commence a holistic approach to waste management. Yes, strategize for the safe management of all types of waste among the populace. There are avenues for exploration:

Experts have indicated that 60-65 % of the waste generated in Ghana is organic, which could be recycled into organic manure for the regeneration of the top soil. Through research and improved technology, vermicomposting (earthworm farming) has become a formidable force in recycling organic waste; it combines kitchen waste, paper, garden and industrial waste. Worms consume the waste and process into organic manure. If we explored vermicomposting to reduce the waste sent to the landfill by about 65 %, we would indeed honour the memory of the late Vice President with a clean Ghana. The good news is that vermicomposting can be done at home, at work, in schools, in offices on farms. So future articles will take readers through the basic steps of vermicomposting and challenge Ghanaians to manage the waste they generate. Between vermicomposting and bio-fuel technology, organic waste should be absolutely recycled in this country.

Even though plastic waste has become a global headache, in Ghana it is especially an environmental menace and a national nightmare. Though a cross-section of the business community operates successful plastic businesses or patronise the product, they hardly recycle the used products, hence the plastic crisis. Sweden has taken quite a lead in innovative handling of plastic. Ghana should collaborate in order to find a lasting solution to the plastic waste menace. Such a collaboration could empower plastic manufacturers to operate plastic recycling programmes.

Electronic waste is just as troubling as all the other types of waste left unmanaged. Elsewhere, manufacturers of electronic gadgets have established electronic waste management systems, which take care of used materials. On such products, consumers are prompted not to dispose electronic waste anyhow but to send them to recycling posts. The problem is that Ghana does not have any such post, so used gadgets end in the hands of scrap collectors. Recently, BBC’s Click programme featured a sophisticated plant which recycles electronic materials in Ireland. It compared practices in other countries and featured Ghana’s Agbloboshie market where boys were busily dismantling discarded computers. The host warned that the boys’ exposure to radioactive materials makes them highly susceptible to dangerous diseases.

Communication service providers in Ghana perform all kinds of social responsibilities, but none has established an electronic waste recycling plant, though they import enormous amounts of electronic gadgets. They fund beauty pageants, build schools, among other commendable projects, but they actually neglect the primary duty of tackling waste from their principal activity. By selectively fulfilling social responsibility, the companies endorse environmental degradation, compromise the health of the very people they claim to help. It is time the nation safely recycled electronic waste, and the onus of responsibility falls squarely on the shoulders of communication service providers. The National Communication Authority and National Media Communication must ensure that communication service providers safely recycle waste from their primary activity before they engage in other social activities.

Kitchen paper, garden and industrial waste recycled as compost

Indeed, the 5th anniversary must catapult Ghana to the 5R Principles of safe waste management: Rethink position on waste management. Reuse materials. Reduce the waste sent to the landfill. Recycle waste. Regenerate exhausted elements. Every principle requires action; therefore, if the 5Rs hallmarked the anniversary, it would not be characterised by the usual Ghanaian unfettered celebration. Rather, it would start a practice that would give true meaning to waste management, and which could eventually rid us of filth. Then, in another five years, the celebration will be themed, look, a clean Ghana! That would be the best memorial for the late Vice President. In fact, we have no claim to human dignity as long as we are engulfed by filth! If we all realised that, we would conscientiously manage waste in both domestic and public spaces. In other words, it is time we stopped talking, expected somebody to do something and acted, because waste management is about individual and collective action.