Berock Ventures fosters collaboration between industry, academia
A local construction firm, Berock Ventures, has initiated moves to close the gap between industry and academia so that their works can be mutually beneficial.
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The initiative, as part of the company’s 20th anniversary, brought together captains of industry, as well as academic dons, including presidents and pro vice chancellors of both private and public universities, to a meeting in Accra.
There have been several complaints that a significant number of graduates churned out by schools in the country are not suitable for the job market while good research work by tertiary institutions and research bodies are left to gather dust on the shelves. These challenges are considered symptoms of a huge gap between industry and the academia; a situation many believe has adversely affected the development of the country.
However, as part of its anniversary celebrations, Berock Ventures Ltd created a platform for key stakeholders to discuss the issue and come out with a plan to bridge this gap.
Making the opening remarks, the Founder and Chairman of the organisation, Mr Rockson Dogbegah, spoke about the challenges that business owners and managers faced in employing suitable candidates, noting that a number of graduates from the country’s tertiary institutions and even technical and vocational schools were simply unemployable, and called for an urgent move to address the challenge.
The Chief Executive Officer of Tropical Cable and Conductors Ltd and a former President of the Association of Ghana Industries, Tony Oteng-Gyasi, also lamented the weak impact of research institutions on industry. He said it should be possible for research and tertiary institutions to find workable solutions to problems confronting industry. He also stressed on the need for these bodies to commercialise their work.
The President of Central University College, Prof. Kwesi Yankah, admitted the gap between the two bodies but said changes were taking place within the academia. He, however, added that the change was not fast enough.
He said universities globally had two streams of recruiting lecturers which included employing academics, as well as people with rich professional backgrounds, and urged tertiary institutions to pay a lot of attention to the recruitment of people with rich work experience as a way of bridging the gap.
The Pro Vice Chancellor of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Prof. Samuel Nii, said it was important for government, industry and academia to work together to address the challenge. He noted the relevance of internship in preparing students for the world of work but said the dwindling fortunes and collapse of industry with increasing number of students’ intake made practical attachment almost impossible. He called for a university and industry fair as part of moves to bridge the gap.
The representative of the Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Prof. Samuel Sackey, spoke of new initiatives to prepare students for the place of work. Prof Sackey, who is also the acting Director of the Institute of Applied science and Technology, said the new Ph.D programme introduced at the university, compelled students to do a one year attachment. He also mentioned that a number of practical oriented courses were being introduced and supported the call for closer collaboration.
Renowned civil engineer and traditional ruler, Torgbui Kporku III, Dufia of Alakple, who chaired the meeting, said there was an urgent need to address the challenges of industry so they can blossom and provide internship and employment opportunities to the youth. He outlined other events that would follow the meeting to ensure that initiative did not end up as talk shop.