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It was reassuring that the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr Kwabena Duffuor, stressed on job creation and unemployment reduction in his budget statement. Unemployment, especially of the youth, is a serious national problem which requires major attention by the government and people of the country. As the minister was presenting his budget COTVET was organising a forum on TVET at the British Council. You may rightly ask, what is COTVET? What is TVET? There is a tendency these days to hide important subjects under pseudonyms which hide their import. COTVET is the �Council for Technical and Vocational Education and Training� which is involved in improving training standards in Technical and Vocational Education (TVET). The Vice-President has commended the council for its efforts to equip its students with the relevant skills for industrial and economic development. But what are the industrial and economic activities for which we train technical and vocational students? I would suggest that the industrial and economic activities are too few for the youth available and what is envisaged for the foreseeable future is not well-defined. At the TVET forum, a review was made of �TVET in Ghana from the First Republic to the Fourth�. The review went further and outlined technical and vocational education from the time of Guggisberg to the days of the Trade Schools at Kibi and Asuantsi. The carrying out of modest in industrialisation at independence by technically equipped men and women made it necessary to send a few of the youth to Britain and Germany. This was explained as being necessary before then as students went to Europe to return as lawyers, doctors and the like. Many wondered why young men and women should go all the way to Europe to learn tailoring and shoemaking and to be conversant with the nitty-gritty of laundry, pottery, masonry and similar businesses. Technical competence in those fields was, however, raised and similarly, the image of those who worked in those fields. Impregilio, the Italian company which built the Volta Dam completed its work ahead of schedule because it did not have to train Ghanaians in technical work as it had planned. The firm even recruited Ghanaians for its next assignment in Southern Africa. Technical education improved in the First Republic because there were plans for projects and generally for development. Satisfying technical work was generally available. Tutors knew what training was necessary for today and tomorrow. Today, knowledge and technology are moving fast and the technician should be well-educated to understand the literature which accompanies the latest technology. We should therefore get rid of the idea that technical and vocational education are for failures. You do not just employ anybody to weld an oil rig. Technical and vocational education is an integral part of the preparation of the youth to enter the industrial age. Apart from the short sightedness in keeping idle those who should work to grow the economy, youth unemployment is a serious threat to national security as Dr Nana Abena Darkwa competently explained at the TVET Forum. News is often relayed to us as entertainment or exciting information. We do not often appreciate the import of unrest in other countries or relate them to events in this country. Those between the ages of 18 and 30 form about 60 per cent of the population and so unrest among the youth is very serious. And if the graduates who are unemployed assume leadership of this crowd, the consequences may not be good for progressive development and national well-being. I was at Cape Coast a couple of weeks ago and the topic �Graduate Unemployment� attracted many students. It was suggested that the educational system should make graduates more employable and that university students should be able to create their own jobs and so on. All this is good. But the stark reality is that the jobs are not there; that it is not easy to create them and that the government and the people must find a solution to the problem before the inferno erupts. Yes, we must be more enterprising. But a government exists not only to preserve law and order but also to enable the people to live satisfying lives. We should stop the barren arguments about state and private enterprise. No developing country which has made it recently has done so without substantial, if quiet, state intervention. China, the most successful capitalist country today, was not and is not foolishly wedded to the ideological theories of socialism or capitalism. Ask those who congregate at St. Paul�s in London or Central Park in New York what they think of the unregulated private enterprise system. It is time we grew up and adopted a development path which suited our circumstances and character. The path should embrace good structures in education. At present, standards have fallen along the line. Ghanaians are intelligent people and we can improve the standards of education if we identify the cause of the fall in standards. We can keep secondary or high school students at school for 10 years and if cram 80 in a class, standards will not rise much. We can in these 10 years stuff their heads with useless information and they will not be knowledgeable or adaptable in the fast changing scene. We cannot develop the country when those who can help in industry are persuaded to take degrees of questionable standards in administration and business when there is no business to administer. We must change our mindset and encourage some of the bright students to enter technical and vocational institutions. And as the Vice President said at COTVET �it is high time society put bigger premium on technical and vocational education and training through better employment, higher earnings, prestige and respect�. I must confess I lost confidence in our ability to establish a useful technical and vocational institution. We talk about it but we do not believe in it. At the request of the PNDC, I established NATVET some 12 years ago with the late energetic Mr Abbam as secretary. As I had my hands full with the educational reforms, I asked PNDC Secretary, Mr D.S. Boateng who had some technical institutions under him to assist as chairman of the committee I had established. I became his vice-chairman. Within a short time, we brought all the institutions engaged in technical and vocational training together. I was favourably surprised at the arrangements for in-service and similar training in many organisations, especially those arranged by major institutions like VRA, VALCO and the Unilever establishments. With the help of those already in the field, we established blue prints for training and qualifications. ILO and British aid institutions offered valuable assistance along the lines we established. Minister D.S. Boateng gave excellent support to the training and other schemes. Unfortunately, when I left the Ministry of Education, silly bickering led to the collapse of the institution. I lost confidence in the ability of Ghanaians to work together to raise standards of technical education. I did not think much of the new council established for the task. I was however impressed with the promotion efforts of Mr George Laing of COTVET and so I attended the TVET Forum. I was glad I did. It was ably chaired by Ms Eva Lokko and Mr Baffour Awuah impressed me as an Executive Director with ideas. My day was made with the address by �young� Mr Dei Tumi, on �The Importance of TVET in National Development�. When he finished I said to myself �Lord, let Thy servant now depart in peace, for my eyes have seen Thy salvation in the near future�. Mr Dei Tumi said it all. We cannot talk of national development and ignore technical and vocational education. Without development and employment, national security is at risk. We must act now to avoid the danger looming ahead