The Institution of Engineering and Technology, Ghana (IET-Ghana), has called on the government to extend financial allowances to engineering students, arguing that excluding them from trainee support schemes is a critical oversight in Ghana’s development agenda.
At an induction ceremony for newly qualified engineers in Kumasi, IET-Ghana President, Mr. Henry Kwadwo Boateng, strongly advocated for the inclusion of engineering students from technical universities and vocational institutions in national trainee allowance programmes, currently limited to teacher and nursing trainees.
“For years, we’ve justified these allowances based on low enrollment in teaching and nursing. But today, Ghana’s most urgent professional gap lies in engineering and technical expertise,” Mr. Boateng stated.
The call follows President John Dramani Mahama’s recent pledge to fully restore nursing training allowances and clear arrears starting January 2026—a move IET-Ghana views as positive, but incomplete.
Mr. Boateng questioned why engineering students, who are vital to Ghana’s industrialisation, infrastructure, and technological progress, continue to be overlooked. “We are not asking for favours. This is a demand for fairness. The future of Ghana depends on the people who design, build, and maintain its systems,” he stressed.
He warned that Ghana’s reliance on foreign artisans, especially from neighbouring countries, is a direct result of insufficient local investment in technical education. “We are losing our youth to disinterest and lack of support, while foreign-trained artisans fill our job sites,” he noted.
Engr. Boateng appealed directly to President Mahama and national policymakers to revisit the scope of the trainee support framework, urging them to include engineering students in a bid to align national policy with Ghana’s long-term industrial ambitions.
His sentiments were echoed by Engr. Abdul Aziz Abubakar, Chairman of IET-Ghana Middle Belt, who challenged the newly inducted engineers to lead efforts in solving persistent national issues, particularly urban flooding.
Both leaders charged the new professionals to step forward not just as engineers, but as nation-builders.
“Ghana’s future is engineering. Let us treat it with the seriousness it deserves,” Boateng concluded.
