Government committed to resourcing polytechnics – Education Minister
Government has highlighted its commitment to facilitate the linkages between tertiary education and industry as one of its strategies to address the problem of graduate unemployment in the country.
This would be achieved by establishing polytechnic-industry collaborative programmes to increase opportunities for practical training and internships.
In addition, government would promote curriculum development to meet the skills and human resource demands of industry, create opportunities for work and study as well as make training in entrepreneurship a cardinal component of the polytechnic education option.
Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyeman, Minister of Education, who made these known said government was committed to providing the required resources and ensure that polytechnic education remained relevant to the country’s socio-economic development.
She was speaking at the 8th congregation of the Kumasi Polytechnic in Kumasi on Saturday.
Professor Opoku-Agyeman, said government would continue to support the upgrade of the award of degrees in key areas that matched the distinctive character and functions of polytechnic education while introducing relevant degree programmes in all polytechnics as a way of solving the problem of academic progression of polytechnic graduates in the country.
She praised Kumasi Polytechnic for setting up the Institute of Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Development (IEED) as well as the Business Incubation Unit to impart practical skills of entrepreneurship to students.
The Minister advised the graduates to strive to be dedicated and provide quality service wherever they found themselves and be an active participant in the building of a new better Ghana.
Professor Nicholas Necodemus Nana Nsowah-Nuamah, Rector of the Polytechnic, said the school had gone into partnership with Song Tech Company Limited to establish K-PST Electronic Company to assemble desktop and laptop computers as well as mobile phones.
This would serve as a training ground for students in all faculties to gain practical and industrial experience while at school adding that production would start by the end of May this year.
In collaboration with Expert Institute of Advance Technology PVT Limited of India and BS Africa Limited of Ghana, the Polytechnic was in the process of establishing the first Polytechnic Institute of Technology in Ghana to offer certificate courses in mobile tablet computer repairs, flat screen TV repairs, mobile phone repairs, computer networking, computer security and personal computer repairs.
As part of efforts to address the energy problem of the country, the polytechnic had also invented solar fufu pounding machine called “fufu mama” with multiple speed, a solar tracker, solar cooker, solar oven and solar dryer.
Professor Nsowah-Nuamah advised the graduates to be patriotic to duty by accepting posting to any part of the country to serve.
Source: GNA