Academia, business partnership crucial for economic growth — Nana Pra IV
A successful partnership between academia and business can strengthen the country's economy and ensure growth, the Divisional Chief of Himan Prestea in the Wassa Fiase Traditional Area, Nana Nteboa Pra IV, has said.
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He said higher education institutions and industry could work together to build a symbiotic connection that would suit both goals and result in a significant and long-lasting win-win for everyone.
"Unfortunately, we hardly see this happening in Ghana. Academic institutions and industries are performing on their terms without little or no coordination and collaboration," he said.
Consequence
As a consequence of that, he said academia ended up producing graduates or a workforce that industry could not engage to advance their cause for the common good of all.
Nana Pra IV said this at the 20th Congratulation of the African University College of Communications (AUCC) in Accra last Saturday.
At the event, a total of 406 undergraduate and postgraduate students graduated.
The ceremony, which was on the theme: "Bridging the industry and academic gap for national development", attracted a host of dignitaries including the Member of Parliament for Klottey-Korley, Dr Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings.
Nana Pra IV said there was a need to maximise what technology and the digital world offered humanity.
"The impact of technology on our daily lives cannot be overemphasized.
It is even more vital to us in academia.
Technology has and will continue to play significant roles in both teaching and learning," he said.
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The President of the AUCC, Prof. Isaac Abeku Blankson, said for two decades, the AUCC had turned out over 3,500 graduates who were currently occupying and playing various roles locally and internationally.
The mission of the institution, he said, was to train and produce lifelong learners to become innovative problem-solvers in the fields of communication, business, technology and related areas.
That, he said, was through excellence in inter-disciplinary teaching, research and collaboration at the local, regional and global levels using the Pan-African framework.
Regarding chartering, Prof. Blankson announced that the AUCC had been able to sail through stages one and two of the process with the great efforts and hard work of the institution's processing team.
"We have currently been signalled by the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) to complete stage III of the process.
"We believe this step will in no doubt enable us to be more efficient in discharging our mandate," he said.
He said the university college had started building academic partnerships with several institutions of higher learning locally and abroad.
Partners
In addition to the existing institutions such as the University of Ghana, the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration, the University of Education, Winneba, "we now have the University of Cape Coast as our newest mentor institution."
For her part, Dr Agyeman-Rawlings congratulated the graduates and wished them the best in their endeavours.
In his valedictory speech, George Gyamfi said the ceremony was a reflection of graduates hard work, dedication and commitment to achieving their goals.
