Mr Clement Osei-Amoako, President of the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI) has urged tertiary institutions to develop courses capable of equipping students with practical skills for the job market and national development.

He said the future of the country’s human capital depended solely on the universities and other training institutions and the kind of training and skills they developed and provided to graduates as they prepare them for the world of work.

Speaking at a meeting with some officials from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) led by Mr Charles Ofosu Marfo, Provost, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, during a courtesy call, Mr Osei-Amoako bemoaned the development of courses which were not in tandem with the business and industry’s requirements.
This, he believed, continue to play a major factor in the country’s inability to address its high unemployment situation.

The President of GNCCI, therefore, called for more collaboration between the institutions and business and industry to develop courses relevant to the needs and aspirations of businesses and for more job to be created, to reduce the ever rising unemployment rate in the country.

The meeting was to engender discussions on how best the two institutions could bridge the gap that exist between businesses and academia.

It was also to discuss internship and traineeship arrangements for students, as well as establish mutual co-operation between the institutions.

According to a World Bank report, Addressing Youth Unemployment in Ghana launched in 2020, the country is faced with 12 percent youth unemployment and more than 50 per cent underemployment, both higher than overall unemployment rates in Sub-Saharan African countries.

Labour experts and employers have over the years attributed the situation to the training institution’s inability to produce graduates with the required skills and knowledge to meet the demand of these businesses.

Mr Osei-Amoako expressed the Chamber’s willingness to partner with the university, adding that it was already collaborating with some universities such as the University of Cape Coast to equip students with the practical skills and make them ready for the job market.

“We have also discussed that in future we will get some on board to also support some of the initiatives that we are doing, so that we will come tactical to with our experience to support whatever decision that you have taken,” he added.

Mr Charles Ofosu Marfo assured the Chamber of the University’s commitment to improve the standard of training for its students to ensure they met the global demand.

He further assured that the College and the University as a whole would continue to laisse with industry players to see how best it could improve on courses it offered to ensure that graduates of the university met the global need.
He appealed to industries to provide internship opportunities to students to enable them acquire practical training and employable skills for future job prospects.