Graduate employability requires collaboration – Prof. Kaufmann
The Dean of the School of Engineering Sciences at the University of Ghana, Professor Elsie Effah Kaufmann, has charged industry and academia to collaborate to train the next generation of workers to equip them with the necessary skills needed for today’s challenging economic world.
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She explained that as the universities were providing students with a foundation for them to learn and possibly apply what they were taught on completion, industry players needed to adopt courses and help train students while they were in school.
Professor Kaufmann was reacting to a key recommendation in a report by Education Sub Saharan Africa (ESSA) dubbed: ”What Next? Enhancing African Students' Transition to Employment through Effective Career Services”.
“If you leave the universities alone to make our young people ready for the world of work after school, it's not going to happen.
“We need partnerships with industry to provide opportunities for students; they should be opening their doors for young people to go out there to see what's happening in the world so that they can be responsive,” she added.
ESSA report
The report launched at an Industry Roundtable event on Tuesday last week in Accra was conducted in partnership with the Education Collaborative at Ashesi University and Kepler University, with financial support from Dubai Cares.
The study aims to produce an in-depth understanding of how universities and colleges in Africa can enhance their career services outcomes to help students transition to employment.
It sheds light on how universities and colleges in Africa can enhance their career services to support students' transition to employment.
It also addresses youth unemployment in sub-Saharan Africa, highlighting the significant gap between skills developed in universities and those required by the labour market.
The report proposed the establishment of an Industry-Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) network to enhance graduate employability and prepare students for success in the workforce.
Youth unemployment
In his presentation on the report, a Senior Research Manager at ESSA, Dr Samuel Asare, explained that the problem of youth unemployment remained a great concern in Africa which needed to be addressed.
He said the key contributor to youth unemployment was the significant gap between the skills developed in universities and colleges and the skills requirement of the labour market in sub-Saharan Africa.
“Enhanced collaboration between tertiary institutions and employers is key to ensuring that young people have the skills and understanding of the workplace to transition successfully into work and succeed in their chosen career,” he said.
