Ghana will continue to produce unemployable graduates if reforms made in the educational curricula do not conform to the demands of the job market,” a former Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, has stated.
He noted that there was a vacuum in the practical knowledge graduates acquired in school because the curricula was totally unrelated to the fundamentals of the country’s economic production needs.
Mr Spio-Garbrah made the observation at a public lecture he delivered at the Commonwealth Hall of the University of Ghana in Accra yesterday, as part of activities marking the 60th anniversary celebration of the Old Vandals Association (OVA) of the hall.
In attendance were some members of the academia, old students of the hall (old Vandals) and some Members of Parliament. It was on the theme: “60 years of Vandalism: the next chapter.”
Interventions
Mr Spio-Garbrah, therefore, called for effective measures including mentorship, to bridge the gap between education and industry, to prepare students for the job market before they graduated.
The former minister further stressed that the country’s economy could only develop if Ghanaians realised the need to seek knowledge to cause change, instead of just gaining knowledge without any pragmatic linkages.
For instance, he said the exploration of the natural resources of Ghana, remained less than 50 per cent as a result of the unavailability of instruments to measure and extract them, adding that the future generation needed to equip themselves with knowledge that would help preserve and also make good use of the nation’s resources.
“We should speed up on how to use the knowledge and not just how we acquire the knowledge,” he charged.
On trade, Mr Spio-Garbrah called for a vigorous campaign to promote made–in Ghana products and also entreated Ghanaians to endeavour to purchase and use local products.
Vandals
Touching on the theme, Mr Spio-Garbrah said vandals had values such as self–development and leadership qualities that they must be proud of and advised that such values must impact positively on their respective workplaces and communities for the accelerated development of the country.
“We should value and protect the spirit of vandalism,” he urged.
Mr Spio-Garbrah said there were many prominent vandals in all spheres of life and that their achievements should serve as an inspiration to the younger ones to aim higher.
Old vandals
For his part, the president of the OVA, Mr Isaac Nketsiah-Sarpong, urged members to remember their roots, intensify the bond of unity, brotherhood and patriotism of being a vandal, adding, “it is always good to be home after receiving much impact from the hall”
Source: Daily Graphic
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MR MAN YOU WERE IN POWER FOR 8 GOOD YEARS. IF YOU KNOW SOMETHING BETTER WHY YOU DID NOT INTRODUCED? THE ONLY THING YOUR GOVERNMENT SERIOUS WAS STEALING FROM GHANA COFFERS.PLEASE JUST SIT DOWN AND ALLOW NPP GOVERNMENT TO DO WHAT THEY CAN DO. THAT YOUR NOISE CAN'T CHANGE ANYTHING.SHAME ON YOU.WHEN YOU WERE AT TRADE MINISTRIES WHAT POLICIES DID YOU PUT IN PLACE TO HELP MOTHER GHANA? TELL ALL YOUR FORMER CORRUPT MINISTERS TO BE READY IN JAIL. SHAME ON YOU,
good strategy! Preparing the grounds for the battle ahead. Spio still eyeing the candidature of the umbrella family
For 8 years that they NDC were in power what did they do about the school curricula? These NDC people are hypocrates... They make too much noise but achieve nothing when given the opportunity. Was Spio not a Minister? It was the same (P)NDC govt that destroyed our educational system by introducing the JSS system wholesale without enough preparation.
For once a journalist is appropriately referring to Ekow as a "Mr." instead of the false "Dr." he and his supporting have been appending to his name.