The First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Joseph Osei-Owusu, has called for the need to build strong and effective linkages between tertiary education and industry in the country.
The First Deputy Speaker of Parliament was speaking at the 40th Anniversary celebration and 25th graduation of the Valley View University Techiman Campus.
The programme was on the theme; “Celebrating 40 years of Value-Based Higher Education in Ghana.”
A total number of 903 students were conferred with degrees.
Mr. Joseph Osei-Owusu who is also the Member of Parliament for Bekwai in the Ashanti Region, also encouraged institutions of higher learning to continuously conduct research into skills required for the job market and incorporate same into their curriculum, as well as introduce entrepreneurship as a compulsory course for students in their final year.
“The Graduate unemployment situation is also worsened by the fact that skills, knowledge, competence and technical know-how acquired from the tertiary institutions do not often match the expectation of the corporate world. Tertiary education is unable to provide graduates with the job-relevant skills that meet demands of industry, as a result, corporate organisations spend so much to retrain newly recruited graduates. This affects profitability and growth of industries.”
The Rector of Valley View University (VVU) Techiman Campus, Pastor Dr. Peter Agyekum Boateng said efforts are being made to provide the necessary infrastructure for the smooth running of programmes and other activities.
Pastor Dr. Boateng noted that, in its quest to help irregular migration returnees, a centre has been commissioned to help the returnees reintegrate into the society known as “The Centre for Return and Inward Migration.”
“The focus of the Centre is to help returnees to acquire some employable skills in carpentry, masonry, bee-keeping, poultry farming and baking. The Centre would also be providing counselling services to the returnees.”