Learning Pathways

This pathway is for students interested in accounting, banking, marketing, sales, human resources, operations, procurement and running their own thing. Most of these jobs exist inside other people's organisations, not in a start-up. The common skill is being trusted with money and with information. That means arithmetic you can do without panicking, records that are actually kept, and writing that other people can follow. By the end you will know the real job titles,...

This pathway is for students considering the skilled trades, technical and vocational training, agriculture, hospitality, and routes that start with work rather than with study. These are not fallback options. Electricians, plumbers, welders, mechanics, tailors, chefs and refrigeration technicians are in demand in both Ghana and Canada, and several of these routes pay you while you learn instead of charging you. The two countries organise it very differently, and understanding that difference is the...

This pathway is for students who are good at, or curious about, science and mathematics and want to know what the actual jobs are. It covers laboratory work, agriculture and food science, environment and water, statistics and data, and research support roles. Most science work is not sudden discovery. It is careful measurement, repeated the same way every time, written down so someone else can check it. If that sounds boring, some of these...

This pathway is for students thinking about nursing, midwifery, pharmacy, medical laboratory work, physiotherapy, radiography, nutrition, community and public health, paramedic work, care work and medicine. Medicine gets the attention, but nursing, midwifery and the allied health professions employ far more people and have more entry points. Several of them start with a diploma or a certificate rather than a long degree. Every one of these jobs is regulated. Somebody has to sign off...

This pathway is for students who draw, design, write, shoot, edit, build or perform, and want to know whether it can be a living. It covers design, media production, writing and journalism, communications, and craft and fine art. Almost all paid creative work is solving someone else's problem to a deadline, inside a budget, with feedback you did not ask for. The people who last are the ones who finish things and take criticism...

This pathway is for students interested in software, IT support, networks, data, cybersecurity, design and digital product work. The useful thing about technology is that you can start now. Most of what you need to learn first is free, and evidence that you built something counts more here than in almost any other field. The unhelpful thing is the noise. A lot of online advice about this industry is sales material. This pathway sticks...

This pathway is for students interested in social work, psychology, community development, youth and child work, NGO work, sociology and human services. The common misunderstanding is that this work is mostly listening and encouraging. Much of it is statutory duties, case records, assessments, and decisions about scarce resources, made under time pressure and sometimes challenged. The second misunderstanding is about titles. In several of these professions you cannot use the job title unless a...

This pathway is for students interested in civil, mechanical, electrical, computer, chemical, environmental, agricultural and mining engineering, and in architecture, surveying and construction. Engineering is problem-solving with consequences. If a designer gets a poster wrong, it looks bad. If an engineer gets a beam, a circuit or a water system wrong, someone can be hurt. That is why the training is long, the mathematics is unavoidable, and the profession is licensed. By the end...

This pathway is for students interested in law, human rights, policy, governance and the many legal jobs that are not being a lawyer. The day-to-day reality is reading and writing. Long documents, careful arguments, and getting a detail wrong having consequences. Courtroom drama is a small part of a small number of careers. The route also differs sharply between Ghana and Canada, and the difference is worth understanding before you choose subjects.

This pathway is for students thinking about teaching, early childhood education, special education, tutoring, learning support, educational technology and school administration. Teaching is a performance job attached to a large amount of paperwork. You are on your feet, watched, all day, and then you plan and mark afterwards. People who love the subject but dislike the audience usually find this out too late. The route into it differs sharply between Ghana and Canada, and...