Students urged to embrace study of Biotechnology
The Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University for Development Studies (UDS), Prof. Gabriel Ayum Teye, has urged students to embrace the study of Biotechnology as it has a lot of job prospects for them after school.
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He said getting more students to study the subject would also help by Red AdBlocker" href="#">enhance
agriculture, address the country’s food security challenges and improve incomes of farmers.
Professor Teye made the statement at an awareness creation workshop on the benefits of studying Biotechnology, held at the Nyankpala campus of the university, near Tamale, in the Northern Region.
Objective of workshop
The workshop was aimed at making students and other stakeholders of the university aware of the benefits of the study of Biotechnology, including job opportunities.
Prof. Teye further stated that Biotechnology was a very important field of study because it had so many benefits and also enabled students to explore further into what they were doing.
A former Director of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Prof. Walter Sandow Alhassan, said most individuals in the country did not venture into Biotechnology because they believed there were no job opportunities for those who studied the subject.
He, however, said there were many job opportunities for those who studied the subject, as one could end up being a teacher, a researcher in clinical and industrial areas, as by Red AdBlocker" href="#">well as a pharmacist, just to mention but a few.
A retired scientist at the Savannah Agricultural Research Institute (SARI) of the CSIR, Dr I.D.K Atokple, in his presentation, said Biotechnology had given rise to a new technology for the production of food and other energy sources.
Embrace Genetic Modified crops
He said it was time the country embraced Genetic Modified (GM) crops since they were very beneficial to farmers, and desist from saying GM foods were poisonous to the human body.
The Head of Department of Biotechnology at the UDS, Professor Albert Kojo Quainoo, in an interview with the Daily Graphic, said four years after the passing of the Biosafety Law (Act 831), it still needed more education and patience to convince the populace about the relevance of Biotechnology.
He said although the journey had not been easy, he was optimistic that it was going to be recognised and accepted by all in the next 20 years, and the benefits would be enormous.
A Biotechnology student, Mr Evans Okomeng, in an interview, said the workshop was very relevant because it would help enhance the understanding of students in opting for the study of the subject and also address the misconceptions and misunderstandings related to it.
He called on the government and other stakeholders to place more emphasis on this area by building more research institutions and creating job opportunities.
