Former Education Minister Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum has criticised some academic programmes offered by Ghanaian universities, arguing that they fail to equip students with employable skills and contribute to the country’s growing graduate unemployment.
Speaking on the Konnected Minds podcast, Dr Adutwum said several tertiary institutions continue to admit students into programmes that have little relevance to the labour market, instead of designing courses around the country’s workforce demands.
He stressed that universities should base admissions and programme offerings on regular labour market assessments to ensure graduates possess skills that are in demand.
The former minister pointed to programmes such as Development Studies at the University for Development Studies (UDS) and BA in Education Non-Teaching at the University of Ghana as examples of courses he believes do not adequately prepare students for employment.
Recalling his time in office, Dr Adutwum said he publicly questioned the relevance of Development Studies during a speech at the New Year School.
According to him, the Vice-Chancellor of UDS contacted him the following day to say one student had withdrawn from the programme after hearing his remarks.
He also questioned the value of Development Education programmes, arguing that graduates are left without clear career opportunities because the qualification does not prepare them for teaching or other identifiable professions.
Dr Adutwum further criticised the University of Ghana’s BA in Education Non-Teaching programme, saying many graduates complete their national service only to struggle to secure permanent employment.
Dr Adutwum called on the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission to ensure university programmes are aligned with Ghana’s labour market needs.
He cited India’s IT boom as an example of what Ghana could achieve with the right approach.
“The police service needs them, the military needs them, so many companies. In case Ghanaian companies don’t need them, companies abroad need them, and they will stay in Ghana and work for those,” he said.
If you don’t revamp the whole education system and do education to somewhere and not education to nowhere, you cannot confront and solve your graduate unemployment problem, he added.
The former minister said addressing graduate unemployment requires a comprehensive review of the country’s education system so that university programmes produce graduates with skills that match available jobs and future economic needs, rather than qualifications with limited employment prospects.
