'Direct Programmes Of Tertiary Institutions To Development'

The acting Council Chairman of Garden City University College, Mr George Sarpong, has called on authorities of tertiary institutions to design programmes that will help accelerate the pace of the country’s development.

He pointed out that it was time tertiary institutions produced graduates who did not only have basic competence of being analytical but also proficient in critical thinking with the requisite skills in leadership and Information and Communication Technology.

Expressing concern about what he described as the country’s colonially engineered educational curriculum, Mr Sarpong pointed out that “the country cannot continue to produce graduates without looking at their quality and how relevant they are to the shaping of our economy, especially the private sector.”

He said “it is high time we looked at the way students are shaped or prepared for national and international job market to enhance their employment opportunities both locally and internationally”.

Mr Sarpong made the remarks at the 3rd congregation of the Garden City University College in Kumasi. A total of 436 graduates were presented with degrees in Business Studies, ICT and Nursing, after undertaking a-four year course at the university which is affiliated to the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).

Speaking on the theme “developing the next generation of professionals, he said it was important for Ghana to focus on an educational system that would produce specialists who had the knowhow to support the country’s development.

He said professional development should not be designed for students to merely pass through tertiary institutions for them to be solely recognised as degree holders, without having any form of professional career focus.

He advised the graduates to be innovative and creative in all their endeavours and also develop the can-do-spirit to enable them to survive in the current competitive job market.

“Some of you would have to think of setting up your own companies instead of adding up to the pool of unemployed graduates in the country,” he said.

In his address, the President of the Garden City University College, Professor Steve Sobotie, advised the graduates to be ready to accept different opinions with humility and persevere to reach consensus through debate and consultation.

Present at the ceremony included Prof. Peter Donkor, Pro-Vice Chancellor of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).