We, the Art Teachers Association of Ghana, wish to commend the Honourable Minister of Education, Mr. Haruna Iddrisu, for his insightful and passionate remarks delivered on 10th June 2025 at the 2025 TVET Pitso Forum in Gaborone, Botswana.
During his address on the transformation of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), the Minister highlighted the significant progress made by the Government of Ghana in strengthening TVET as a strategic tool for job creation and national industrialisation. Indeed, the repositioning of TVET from a perceived alternative route to a central pillar of Ghana’s development vision is both commendable and timely. The Minister’s assertion that TVET is now a “top priority” reflects a significant policy shift that resonates with global educational trends advocating for skill-based, inclusive, and practical learning approaches.
However, as stakeholders in the education sector and frontline implementers of visual arts and creative education, we feel compelled to highlight a critical dimension of the TVET ecosystem that remains underdeveloped and inconsistently prioritised, namely, the Creative Arts and Design components within basic and second-cycle education.
While we acknowledge and applaud the government’s renewed focus on Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) as a pathway to national development, it is equally important to reflect on the full spectrum of the educational pipeline that feeds into this system. A strong TVET agenda cannot thrive in isolation from the foundational structures that nurture early skills and creativity. Despite the government’s commendable investment in TVET infrastructure and skills training institutions, there is a glaring disconnect between this high-level commitment and the realities at the foundational levels of education, particularly within primary, junior high, and senior high schools.
This disconnect, if unaddressed, threatens to undermine the sustainability and inclusiveness of the TVET agenda.
At the primary and junior high school levels, the implementation of the Creative Arts and Design curriculum continues to suffer from severe constraints. Most schools lack basic infrastructure such as studios, workshops, tools, and materials that are essential for practical, experiential learning.
The absence of these facilities renders the curriculum largely theoretical, depriving learners of hands-on artistic experiences that are vital for cognitive development, innovation, and early talent identification.
Moreover, the capacity of teachers to deliver the curriculum effectively is another area of concern. Many trained creative arts educators are deployed without the necessary ongoing professional development or access to teaching resources
This limits their ability to engage students in meaningful, skill-based activities that align with the goals of Ghana’s TVET. Consequently, learners are denied the opportunity to develop foundational skills in art and design, skills that could later feed into higher-level TVET programmes and contribute to Ghana’s creative economy.
At the senior high school (SHS) level, particularly within the Visual Arts programmes, the challenges confronting practical education are deeply troubling. The curriculum remains disproportionately weighted toward theory, offering minimal scope for hands-on exploration and skill development. Most schools are severely under-resourced, lacking fundamental infrastructure such as ceramics kilns, printmaking equipment, sculpting tools, and even basic drawing materials, resources that are indispensable for a well-rounded visual arts education. Compounding these deficiencies is the woefully inadequate financial support provided by the government for WASSCE practicals.
The stipends allocated are not only insufficient but also shift the financial burden onto already-strained parents and students, turning what should be a robust, empowering educational experience into a source of anxiety and hardship. This neglect undermines the very purpose of the Visual Arts programme and threatens its capacity to produce competent, creative graduates.
Furthermore, the shortage of specialised, professionally trained art educators hampers the delivery of a robust and competitive arts education, particularly at the basic school level. These systemic inadequacies result in learners graduating with limited practical competencies, thereby weakening their ability to transition effectively into tertiary-level art and design programmes or contribute meaningfully to the creative industries, a sector increasingly recognised for its economic potential.
If TVET is to be the fulcrum of national development, as rightly stated by the Honourable Minister, then it must be built on a solid, skill-oriented foundation that begins at the earliest stages of formal education. Neglecting the arts within this framework risks creating a lopsided system, one that invests at the apex but leaves its base undernourished. Therefore, we respectfully call on the Ministry of Education and its implementing agencies, such as the Ghana Education Service (GES) and the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA), to take immediate and deliberate steps to:
Strengthen the infrastructure and resourcing of Arts programmes at the basic and secondary school levels. The government of Ghana must significantly increase funding for SHS Visual Arts practicals to ensure adequate resources, infrastructure, and support for meaningful hands-on learning experiences. Invest in continuous professional development for art teachers to ensure pedagogical effectiveness and curriculum alignment. Rebalance the curriculum to include more hands-on, project-based, and interdisciplinary approaches that mirror global best practices in arts and TVET education. Create clear pathways from early visual arts education to advanced vocational and technical specialisations in the creative sector.
In conclusion, we affirm our support for the government’s efforts to revitalise TVET as a vehicle for economic transformation.
However, we urge that such transformation be holistic and inclusive, ensuring that no discipline, especially one as vital as the Creative Arts, is left behind in the process. The future of Ghana’s creative economy and the dreams of thousands of artistically inclined learners depend on it.
Signed,
Sumaila Issah (PhD)
National President
Art Teachers Association of Ghana
18th July 2025
Signed
Samuel Donkoh
National Secretary
Art Teachers Association of Ghana (ATAG)
18th July 2025
