Government To Restructure Educational System In Ghana

President John Dramani Mahama says government will restructure the educational system to upscale vocational and technical training in the country. The move, he said, will produce graduates who could easily find jobs and contribute to the nation's socio-economic development. He said the current situation where graduates with degrees in the humanities found it difficult to find jobs was unacceptable, hence the determination of the government to reverse the situation. President Mahama said this on Monday when the former German President Horst K�hler paid a courtesy call on him at the flagstaff House in Accra. The two held discussions on Ghana-German relations and the need for the youth to be given the requisite skills for the job market. Mr K�hler, who is in Ghana to attend a meeting of European and African entrepreneurs, presented a report on the state of the youth prepared by young African and German entrepreneurs and an agenda of the meeting in Accra to President Mahama. President Mahama said Ghana's economy was growing at a fast rate of an average of eight per cent yearly. He said the challenge now was how to translate the growth into jobs. The President said Ghana's growing job market was looking for middle-level professionals such as engineers and technicians. Therefore, he said, the government would now "put emphasis on vocational and technical training". President Mahama said his administration had plans to equip the huge number of people in the informal sector with the relevant skills with the view to graduating them to the formal sector. "We will provide them with the skills that they need to be able to manage their businesses and employ more youth from the school system," he said. The President lauded Mr K�hler for his open policy for Africa and support for youth empowerment. For his part, former President K�hler said Germany was reviewing its policy on vocational and technical training for developing countries. He said the aim was to support developing countries to produce youth with the skills needed for the development of their respective countries. Mr K�hler called for a change of perception about people who underwent vocational and technical training in developing countries, to make such courses edifying for the youth. Touching on Ghana, former President K�hler said Germany held Ghana in high regard and saw the country as one of the progressive and stable countries in Africa. He added that, many German entrepreneurs are looking for the opportunity to come and invest in the manufacturing sector in Ghana. Horst K�hler is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union. He was President of Germany from 2004 to 2010.