Gower College Swansea enters new VET partnership in Ghana and Malawi

Gower College Swansea is set to strengthen its ties in Africa by taking part in the VET (vocational education and training) Toolbox II project.

The VET Toolbox II project, funded by the European Union and managed by the British Council in Ghana and Malawi, aims to enhance international cooperation to support demand-driven and inclusive vocational education and training. The project is part of a wider programme being delivered across 11 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa through four other European development agencies, Enabel, Expertise France, GIZ and LuxDev.

As part of the project, Gower College Swansea has been appointed to deliver an international skills and mentoring partnership – which will see the College support Ghanaian and Malawian partners to enhance approaches to skills development, which will, importantly, deliver sustainable impact.

Speaking from Malawi, Director of Skills and Business Development at Gower College Swansea, Paul Kift said: "This is an exciting new opportunity for the College and we are delighted to be part of this project. Our role will be to implement a series of coaching and mentoring sessions with a particular focus on the agriculture sector in both Ghana and Malawi – which is an emerging and thriving sector.

"To further strengthen the partnership, we will be working with Lantra, one of the UK and Ireland's leading awarding bodies for training in the land-based industries, who will offer their expertise to help support the projects’ aims. We also look forward to bringing the learning from the partnership back to Wales for the benefit of the College and other stakeholders."

The key outcomes of the mentoring partnerships will be to guide partners on how to enhance public-private dialogue, the generation of sustainable funding, maximising inclusivity and how to monitor and evaluate programmes. The 12-month partnership will also highlight best practice and lessons learned, with the aim of shaping skills system change reforms in both countries beyond the agriculture sector.

This work is an extension of Gower College Swansea’s award-winning international practices, which were recognised by the Association of Colleges (AoC) in 2023 when the College won the highly coveted UK Beacon Award for Internationalism.

Photo captions:

Our meeting with the Malawian Ministry of Labour, British Council and a Botswanan delegation.

A group of Vocational Training Institutions we are supporting via the VET Toolbox II project.

Finally, the Technical Working Group for the VET Toolbox II project (made up of employers and cooperatives).

Meeting with Ghana TVET Service.