Private sector urged to open up to Universities
THE UPPER East Regional Minister, Mr. Mark Woyongo has urged the private sector to open up with African Universities so that they would know the kind of skills or manpower needs they require for the production of various goods and services.
The private sector, in conjunction with the tertiary institutions should, therefore, hold regular workshops and seminars to share ideas and experiences so that the right manpower needs would be addressed and also help meet the private sector aspirations.
Mr. Woyongo, who said these on Thursday during this year's annual African University Day Celebration held in Bolgatanga, was also of the view that through such workshops and seminars, the University authorities would get to know the expectations of the labour market and thereby redesign and assess their programmes to suit the current needs or requirements.
He therefore urged the private sector to sponsor the tertiary institutions in Africa in research, to enable them come out with competitive methods of production. He observed that through research one can diagnose, invent and innovate new and improved methods of production.
The regional Minister also called on the private sector to create avenues for tertiary students to go on industrial attachments, so as to equip them with practical knowledge on what they have learned theoretically.
Mr. Woyongo, therefore, suggested that industries or firms, or schools should make room for aspiring accountants, engineers, doctors and teachers among others, to learn at first hand what takes place at the actual work place. This, he said would help mould the would-be employees to understand the working environment and contribute meaningfully towards the achievement of the organization's growth and development when given employment.
The Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University for Development Studies, Prof. David Millar, lamented that the long years of neglect have rendered many Universities in Africa incapable of making a significant contribution to technology development, industry and other productive sectors of the economy.
He said for Universities in Africa to play an important role in the industrial development of the continent, they need to enter into formal dialogue with industrial development with industry, with the objective of establishing a strategic partnership between these two sectors.
Prof. Millar said over the years, there have been arguments for the productive sectors of the economy, which are now the main employers of the graduates of the higher education system, to have a greater say in the decisions on what is taught and how it is taught so as to meet their requirement.
This required strong collaboration between Universities and business and industry, which not only ensured that the graduates coming out of the University were more ready and employable, but were up to date with the rapidly changing world of work, and have the basic return, so that industry can provide a vital practical training environment in which students gained hands-on experience before they left University.
As part of this linkage, industry can fund academic staff and graduate students to undertake commissioned applied research on its behalf, or set up science parks on the University campuses.
Prof. Millar said it was against this background that the African Association of Universities has identified 'African Universities: linkages with the productive sector' as the theme for the 2009 African University Day. He therefore called on all African Universities to critically explore linkages with productive sectors.
He noted that in the developed world and emerging economies, Universities, by establishing linkages with the productive sectors, have become strategic national assets that drive innovation and economic growth. In Africa, however, there exists very little linkages between graduates from Universities and those required by the productive sector, and this in part have led to graduate unemployment in many parts of Africa.