University graduates not skilled enough for the industry – AGI president
Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) is unhappy about the quality of graduates coming out of various universities and institutions in the country at the end of every academic year.
According to the association, graduates from the universities who are posted to industry for National Service struggle to adjust to the demands of the industry.
According to Dr. Yaw Adu Gyamfi, the Chief Executive Officer of Danadams Pharmaceutical Industry and the President of AGI, there is a vast gap between what the graduates are taught in the universities and what is actually practised in the field of work.
In an interview with Citi News, Dr Yaw Adu Gyamfi called for a change in the educational curriculum to ensure that graduates are fit for the job market.
“One of the challenges we in the country are facing now is that when you look at the number of graduates coming out from our universities, you will notice that their training does not match what we want in the industry.”
“How students are trained when they graduate leaves much to be desired. When you come to me as an employer, what you learnt in the classroom is not what I need but rather am looking for someone with the know how. There is a need for students to do an internship even while in school which is on the work training and this prepares students to know what industry is looking for and have a bit of experience to fit in after graduation”.
Dr. Adu Gyamfi said the graduates are also in a hurry to progress and acquire wealth instead of focusing and learning on the job.
“But as soon as they graduate they want to be managers, have a car and all the benefits available. These things are not readily too available. We are looking for graduates with a different mindset, willing to work, learn and sacrifice. We are saying that whatever the curricular those in academia are developing, now is the time for them to bring industry, government and academia together to sit down and deliberate and see what is the way forward in order to create employment for them”.
Dr. Yaw Adu Gyamfi called on the government to provide industries with some incentives to be able to create more jobs for the youth.
“We believe government is trying but if they can give some form of incentives to employers, for them to also provide jobs for these graduates I think it won’t be a bad idea. For instance when we talk about national service, private industries take care of the allowance of personnel posted to their companies but government could at least sort that out for us to be able to take these guys and give them the necessary training and experience while they are still on government payroll so that we put them onboard after they get the experience”.
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Source: citinewsroom