‘Curriculum must conform to industrial demands’

The Managing Director of Stanbic Bank Ghana, Mr Alhassan Andani, has called on university councils to review their curricula to conform with the demands of the emerging industrial revolution.

"The syllabus that you have, which was used in training us some 30 to 40 years ago, I can say, from the privileged position I stand as an employer and also as an industry player, that those syllabi will not train for us the knowledgeable workers that we need for the future,” he said.

Mr Andani added that the new industrial revolution was being driven by technological innovations and for that matter industry now required graduates who possessed the requisite skills to handle and interprete data and also come out with creative ideas to make organisations better.

16th Congregation

Mr Andani made the call in a keynote address at the 16th Congregation and 21st Matriculation of the Islamic University College-Ghana (ICUG), in Accra.

In all, a total of 211 students graduated from the school with degrees in Bachelor of Arts in Religious Studies, Bachelor of Business Administration and Bachelor of Arts in Communications Studies.

Out of the number, 130 were males, representing 61.6 per cent while the remaining 81 were females, representing
38.4 per cent.

Five students graduated with first class honours, 45 with second class upper, 147 with second class lower while 14 others had third class honours.

Shift paradigm

Mr Andani called for a paradigm shift in the educational system of the various universities to equip the students with the relevant skills set in order for them to become solution providers in the new world of work.

"In this new world of work, organisations will not be buying workers, but works, and those works will be constituted by human beings who will not sit in their offices waiting for people to come and give them job descriptions", he said.

Awards

Ms Fatihah Oluwabukola Ayinde, a Nigerian, emerged as the Overall Best graduating student and also as the Best Student in the Communications Studies Department, taking home two plaques and a total amount of GH¢1,500 as her prize for the two awards.

Mr Mohammed Hashim Dawuda, an accounting student, was also awarded as the Best Student in Taxation, while Ms Isatuo Sesay, a Gambian, and Mr Mohammed Abubakar were awarded as the Best Student in Business Administration and Religious Studies, respectively.

Each award came with a plaque and GH¢500 cash, as the prize. the Overall Best, however, had Gh¢1,000 as the cash prize.

Intellectual environment

The Vice-President for Academic Affairs of the ICUG, Dr Gamel Nasser Adam, for his part, said Ghana, like many African countries, continued to lag behind in all facets of the global economy, despite the vast natural resources that it had.

Dr Adam blamed the stagnation and lack of progress on the intellectual environment, which he said, had failed to produce thought leaders who will utilise the country's resources to ensure socioeconomic transformation for its citizenry.