Isolation of academia from informal sector condemned
The isolation of academia from the operations of the informal sector has been condemned ‘as waste and abuse of opportunities that should rather be exploited for the benefit of society’.
Dean of the KNUST School of Business, Joseph Magnus Frimpong says academia has no choice but to partner indigenous companies as well as link up with the informal sector to come up with appropriate guidelines to address the business necessities of time.
He was speaking at the launch of the Business Week of the KNUST School of Business Students Association. The theme is “Developing the informal sector, the role of the government, the financial sector and academia.”
Mr. Magnus Frimpong expects the country’s universities to identify and emphasize new courses that are more relevant to industries and the informal sector.
He says for example that the Pharmacy, Chemistry and Biochemistry departments could guide traditional herbal practitioners on proper identification of right plants, preservation and storage requirements as well as most appropriate packaging standards. “The academia’s role in this regard would not only improve the quality (of herbal medicines) for users but would enable them compete on the international market and earn foreign exchange like the way the Chinese are exploiting our markets”, the Dean noted.
Mr. Magnus Frimpong also observed the unbridled tendency of rich commercial farmers in the informal sector to use certain chemicals and fertilizers to boost production levels but eventually harvesting produce that can cause cancer. He says “we need academia to conduct necessary tests and advise accordingly on what chemicals and fertilizers out to be used if we are to avoid such dangerous side effects.”
Meanwhile, hundreds of undergraduate and postgraduate students of the KNUST School of Business have reached out to informal businesses in the central business district of Kumasi with basic business skills.
Traders at the Kumasi Central Market and other SMEs were educated on simple customer service and book keeping.
President of the KNUST School of Business Students Association, Patrick Fiagbe told Luv FM the market outreach is in line with the theme of the Business Week, to impart the knowledge acquired in school to the traders.
The Association also partnered the Komfo Anokye Hospital’s Blood Bank on a blood donation exercise and made a charity donation of 500 Ghana Cedis to the King Jesus Orphanage in Kumasi.
by Kofi Adu Domfeh