President John Mahama has called for greater collaboration between industry and academia to enable graduates fit into the job market.
The President was speaking at the opening ceremony of a two-day national conference on bridging gap between education, training and industry.
This is to strengthen links between education and industry in the country.
Addressing the conference, President Mahama said his administration is ready to provide all necessary interventions to achieve this objective.
He noted that “there is a great deal at stake and we must redouble our efforts to ensure that we are producing graduates in the areas that the world of work is demanding them.”
The President urged industry and businesses to let government and the various educational institutions “to let us know the skills set they require and which areas of training they require.”
This, he said will allow educational institutions “to align their curricular to suit this demand.”
He admonished participants at the conference to address issues on employability by offering sustainable solutions.”
He implored them to make suggestions to improve internships and apprenticeship for skills training, practical attachments and incentives which could encourage industry to recruit and train graduates.
Youth unemployment which is high in Ghana is considered a hindrance to the country’s development.
Thousands of graduates of tertiary institutions are unable to find jobs after undertaking their national service.
In 2012, a group of unemployed graduates came together and formed the Unemployed Graduates association to demand jobs from the government.
Some industry players and organizations say though there may not be jobs for the high numbers of graduates who leave school every year, many are unable to meet the requirements for the few existing jobs.
Many blame the education system and the irrelevant courses being studied in schools.
This, according to them contributes to the production of students who do not fit the existing job market.
By: Efua Idan Osam/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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