An Engineer, Mr Daniel S. Kwarkyi has advocated the establishment of faculties or schools in technical universities to train qualified and internationally recognised welding technicians for industries in Ghana and beyond.
The Certified Welding Inspector and Educator said Ghana did not have qualified welders who perform welding roles higher than the plate or pipe welders to serve the mining, oil and gas, and power generation and energy companies.
In an interview with The Ghanaian Times on Friday on wielding skills and industry needs, he said, the skills gaps were, therefore, being filled by expatriate welders from other African countries, Asia, Europe and the United States.
Mr Kwarkyi said, the faculties or schools he was advocating could additionally offer Associate Degrees in welding technology in an accredited applied technology faculty.
He said they could get further accreditation to run the Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Welding Engineering Technology for welding technologists as well as a welding engineering programme leading to the BSc in welding engineering.
Mr Kwarkyi said welding was an important industry and required more to be done beyond ongoing efforts to maximise the benefits including job creation and socio-economic development.
He said there was no national data on job prospects in the welding industry, but by 2025, about 5,000 could be working on code-compliant projects as pipe welders, pipe fitters or welder fabricators.
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On how much welding contributed to the Ghanaian economy annually, he said although there was scanty information about it, the economic benefits of the sector could not be discounted.
That, Kwarkyi said, was because in the United States of America, more than 50 per cent of the economy was strongly linked to the welding industry in manufacturing, construction, services and supplies.
On factors inhibiting welding education in Ghana, the engineer said it was due to the lack of regulatory framework for the industry, education and training performed in our institutions did not comply with any known international standards.
"The regulatory framework must be part of a well-funded national Industry Policy Action Plan (IPAP) emanating from the Minister of Industry to guide all stakeholders operating within the Welding Industry," he said.
He said the Ministry of Employment was obliged to develop a national Employment Policy Action Plan based on the demands of industry and fund the training and qualification of welding personnel for employment.
As a member of the American Welding Society, he said the tried and tested American model for training, qualification and certification of Welders would be the best for Ghana to adopt as a national policy framework.
"It is possible to establish a regulatory framework, set standards, establish an accreditation system for the accreditation of Conformity Assessment Bodies (CABs) through a stakeholders' engagement," he said.
