Our education style contributes to unemployment - High Skies College President 

Dr. Godwin Kofi Ahlijah, President, High Skies College in Tema, has attributed the high rate of unemployment in Ghana to the country's non-skill-based educational system.

Dr. Ahlijah said because students were often trained in how to take exams and pass rather than the practical aspect of work when they graduate, it was difficult for them to get employment and fit into industries.

He said: “Graduates from our universities either are not relevant in the industry where they are needed, or they can’t do anything for themselves. This graduate unemployment thing shouldn’t have been an issue if we were training them to know how to begin their businesses.” 

He said this during the maiden congregation of the college, which is an affiliate of the University of Cape Coast.

Six graduated with Masters' degrees, and 10 with diplomas.

Dr Ahlijah described the system of education in Ghana as “the awkward style of education” and said it was the bane of the country's development, as students are trained to be good exam takers who have a lot of knowledge and brilliant when taking exams but found wanting when it comes to implementing the same knowledge in the industry.

He explained that there were three levels of education, with the first being the knowledge base, where the learner is asked to memorise and define things, and the second being application, and then synthesis, where the learner can transport knowledge from one field to another.

He said for a change to occur, it must start with the schools, where they needed to reorient the learners on companies and opportunities instead of asking them to produce verbatim things in their books.

He indicated that such teaching practices and curriculum had led to a disconnect between academia and businesses, making graduates unfit for work.

According to him, there are a lot of business opportunities that are yet to be tapped in Ghana that people must be encouraged to go into instead of waiting for non-existing jobs.

The High Skies College President bemoaned the high-interest rate banks charge on loans, which he said also served as a hindrance on the path of graduates from becoming entrepreneurs.

“If you look around, the interest rate today is almost 30 percent. Who can take money at that rate and do anything meaningful with it? That is where the government is expected to give some tax breaks to push people to create jobs,” he said.

  Dr. Philip Ankamafio Mensah, the Council Chairman of High Skies, urged students to make good use of artificial intelligence tools to enhance their knowledge and skill acquisition.

He said students, in doing so, must also have the necessary knowledge in whatever field they want to apply it to instead of being lazy and just downloading things without even acknowledging the source.

He encouraged graduates to always gain experience with the things they had learned, noting that learning is continuous not only in the classroom but also on the field. 

GNA