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In the quest to make technical education more attractive to the youth who are unable to gain admission into the Senior High School (SHS), government through the Council for Technical Education and Vocational Training (COVET) has obtained support from the African Development Bank ( AfDB) to upgrade facilities of one Technical Institute in every region to international standard. This was disclosed by the Minister for Education, Mr Lee Ocran, yesterday on the floor of Parliament when he appeared before the House to respond to some questions about measures been put in place to develop technical education in the country. Mr Lee Ocran said some management staffs and teachers in technical institutes have also received training in South Korea in various trade areas to enable them make effective use of new equipment and machinery in their teachings. He said, the "Council for Technical and Vocational Education is currently leading a reform that would seek to introduce Competence Base Training ( CBT) as the training methods in technical institutions to improve skill development and enhance the competence of technical graduates." The Minister noted that for the first time, Technical Institute graduates have studied and written external examinations in English, Mathematics, Integrated science and social studies in addition to their grades to enable them enter tertiary institutions and migrate easily into the world of work. He said "government, in making TVET more attractive had absorbed 16 Faith-based and four Community Based Vocational and Technical institutes into the public school system as well as introduced distance education in TVET. He revealed that his Ministry in collaboration with the National Vocation and Training Institute (NVTI) and other agencies would be implementing an apprenticeship training program which will cover 25 identified skills areas and will include communication, entrepreneurial and numeracy skills. Mr Ocran informed the house that funds have been sourced from the GETFund to enable a total of 13,000 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) graduates between the years 2011 and 2012 to undergo training under the first phase of the apprenticeship program. He reiterated that government's policy with regards to the youth who drop out of Primary, Junior and Senior High Schools was to provide these youth with apprenticeship training in both formal and informal sectors, adding, "Plans are far advance to establish the National Apprenticeships Training Board." Meanwhile, the House has approved a �24.11 loan facility from Fidelity Bank for the purchase of the remaining 2 out of the four MI-171 SH Helicopters for the Ghana Air Force.