High school certificate no longer sufficient – Prof. Owusu Gyapong

Professor John Owusu Gyapong, Vice Chancellor, University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS) has observed that high school certificate was no longer sufficient as a terminal credential in the current information and technology-based economy.

He said a cursory observation indicated that most fast growing jobs that paid reasonably well required at least a post-secondary education and urged Senior High School graduates to look beyond that level.

Professor Owusu Gyapong said this in a speech read on his behalf at the fourth graduation ceremony of Wallahs Academy Senior High School in Ho on the theme, “After Senior High School Education, What Next?”

He said it was unfortunate that students’ high school experiences too often failed to prepare them for post-secondary education or for the rigours of work in an information-based economy.

Prof. Owusu Gyapong said information received from industry consistently showed that many high school graduates did not meet employers’ standards in a variety of academic areas as well as in employable skills of attendance, teamwork and work habits and blamed it on “disconnections” in the system.

He therefore called for re-alignment of high school curricula with expectations of post-secondary education and work and stressed the need for early transition planning.

Prof. Owusu Gyapong said giving information on activities such as paid and unpaid internships, youth apprenticeship and “job shadowing” would provide realistic exposure to would- be high school graduates.

Mr Maxwell Affram, Rector of the School asked the graduands not to be in hurry to “taste limitless freedom” outside school and asked them to be worthy Ambassadors of the School.

He said the School got 100 per cent pass in the 2016 West Africa Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (WASSCE) and said it was achieving its vision of being a centre of excellence.

Source: GNA