150 trainees graduate in AOGC programme at TTU

One hundred and fifty trainees who took part in a six months programme on Accelerated Oil and Gas Building (AOGC) at the Takoradi Technical University (TTU), have passed out at a ceremony held in the Western Region capital, Takoradi in Western Region on Wednesday.

The maiden graduation, sponsored by the Petroleum Commission aimed at training individuals in various technical and vocational sectors, and building the capacities of various educational institutions to train students and provide internationally recognised certifications.

As part of the training, trainees underwent internship with a number of AOGC partner entities to enable them to meet the requirements for obtaining the renowned City and Guilds International Vocational Qualification (IVQ) Level III.

“The graduates are now on job-market for the upstream petroleum and allied industries and may be engaged as technicians on the Floating Production Storage Offloading (FPSOs), drill ships, marine vessels and fabrication yards, the Minister of Energy, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, was quoted in an address delivered on his behalf.

He explained that a key component of every progressive society was a well-developed human resource capacity.

He said since the country became a commercial producer of oil and gas, it had lost many opportunities for our indigenous technicians to play lead roles in that sector due to the skills gap.

Therefore, he stated that, it was necessary for more Ghanaians to be equipped with the relevant skills and competence to actively participate in the country’s oil and gas industry.

He said the trainees, made up of 127 males and 23 females who have completed the six-month training programme in mechanical, electrical, instrumentation and process engineering at the Jubilee Technical Training Centre at the Takoradi Technical University (TTU) campus.

The Vice Chancellor of TTU, Rev. Prof. John Frank Eshun said the programme aimed at empowering Ghanaians to take over the mantle of the expatriates who have been working in the oil and gas industry.