The training for service technicians at the West African Transport Academy (WATA) in Ghana’s capital city Accra is the first of its kind, says Scania. It enables students to specialise in heavy truck and bus technology, combining apprenticeships at a company and education at a vocational school in a single course.
The aim is to supply the Ghanaian transport and logistics sector with skilled and qualified technicians and bus drivers, thereby increasing road safety.
Starting in September 2017, 18 students from the Government Technical Training Centre (GTTC) attended the course at WATA. Over the past year, they have done various theoretical training modules and received practical skills in various technologies and subjects such as maintenance, electrics and fuel systems.
Some of the time was spent at the different project partners and other companies in the transport sector: Scania West Africa, MAC Ghana, Metro Mass Transit and Intercity STC.
In August 2018, the first trainees graduated after a final exam including practical modules at which they had one hour to troubleshoot and repair a real fault on a Scania truck using modern diagnostics tools, workshop manuals and wiring diagrams. Haroen Gyselinck, Manager of WATA, said: “Since this training was very successful, we will of course start a new programme.”
