Tertiary schools urged to develop partnership with industries

Tertiary schools urged to develop partnership with industries

November 12, 2009
He said such partnership would enable graduates to be well positioned in the job markets and contribute to the economic development of the continent.

The day brought together public universities in Ghana as well as other private universities, non-higher education institutions and the corporate sector to deliberate on how best tertiary institutions in Africa can train graduates to meet demands of the job market to boost development in the continent.

He said government of Ghana in its efforts to meet the educational needs of the country had created an enabling environment for both public and private institutions to thrive.

He said the continent continued to face challenges including high poverty rate, HIV and AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, high mortality rate, and conflict that had displaced many citizens.

He said the continent needed to look inward for solution such as support from the international communities where Africa must be in the frontline.

He said research indicated that globally, African universities contributed less than one per cent of knowledge development innovation whiles the University of Cape Town was ranked first in the continent and placed 405 out of 6,000 worldwide.

He said businesses needed to fund universities to embark on research to create knowledge and capabilities which would help companies operate more competitively in the global economy.

He said the initiative had enabled the country to build a huge economy behind the crop which had become a major source of income generation than commodities such as crude oil.

He said business needed to provide opportunity for the various faculties and students to undertake research into new products, ideas, processes, systems and also understand trends in business development.

It represents the voice of higher education in Africa on regional and international bodies and supports networking by institutions of higher education in teaching, research, information exchange and dissemination.

GNA