Why industry must be involved in education programmes development in Ghana

Ghana and Ethiopia have been identified as rarely engaging the private sector in the development of education programmes (thebftonline.com). This is in spite of the fact that research shows that the involvement of the private sector and civil society in educational programmes development helps in better addressing graduate unemployment.

In a new report by the African Centre for Economic Transformation

Read full article(ACET) titled “Strengthening Education and Learning Systems to Deliver the Fourth Industrial revolution”, it has been noted that “even with the low private sector engagement in these counties, employers are willing to be more involved as they see the benefits of having a more skilled graduate pool” (ACET, 2022 as cited by theftonline.com).

In order to ensure graduates are well trained in industrial demand-driven skills and expertise, the ACET report indicates that both private sector and civil society organizations must be brought on board to support government policies.

The emphasis in this regard must be placed on the need to fully involve the private sector at all stages of education and training programmes, and to also incorporate civil society views and inputs.

Paradoxically, the report highlights that, although, “soft skills and technical skills are in high demand these are in short supply. Entry requirements in informal sector are high and public and private sector employers do not widely recognize informal skills. Graduates also have trouble starting their own business, as few have entrepreneurial skills”.

The report outlined some priorities for action which included establishing and formalizing a mechanism for recognizing experiential and on-the-job training skills, the recognition of non-formal and informal learning as important means for making the ‘life-long for all” theme a reality and reshaping learning to better match the needs of the fourth industrial revolution.