Make Guidance, Counselling A Priority - Vice Chancellor

The Vice Chancellor of the University of Education, Winneba (UEW), Professor Akwasi Asabre-Ameyaw, has called on the Ghana Education Service to make career guidance/counselling and job placement services, employment counselling and educational, vocational and labour market information a priority, since they have crucial roles to play in human resource development.

Human resource development, education and training contribute significantly to promote the interests of individuals, enterprises, economy and society, he pointed out.

He was addressing the third matriculation ceremony of Jayee Institute in Accra last Saturday during which 313 students were admitted to offer diploma and degree courses in public relations and marketing, journalism, business administration, accounting and office management.

Prof Asabre-Ameyaw said career development culture throughout education, and training systems as well as employment services is a necessary tool to promote continuous learning.

He said the development of this culture among the youth and the adult population is very important for ensuring their employability and to facilitate their transition from education and training into the job market after training .

The Vice Chancellor said the UEW has approved a proposal from Jayee Institute to commence a degree programme in journalism with specialisation in sports, political science, business and finance.

To this end, he said, UEW will in October this year, award 15 students with Bsc degree in Journalism and Social studies, under a partnership programme.

In an address, the principal of the institute, John Emmanuel Donkor, said the rationale behind its affiliation with the UEW was to give the graduates wider marketability as well as the opportunity to qualify them for further academic programmes at the university.

The partnership seeks to innovate and radically transform the way we train our professionals as well as provide them with specific knowledge to make them more effective, he stressed.

Mr Donkor said the institute will from the next academic year introduce a Diploma in Education programme into its curriculum and would be made compulsory for all students.

He said the institute also intends to introduce the study of selected Ghanaian languages as a course to improve the proficiency in the use of local languages as a medium of expression in the Ghanaian media.

Mr Donkor said students admitted constitutes 22 per cent males and 78 per cent female out of the 450 who applied, noting that, it represents a 126.5 per cent increase over the 2006/2007 admissions.