Equip youth with competitive practical skills, knowledge - Dr Sumney
The President of Mission Africa Incorporated, Dr Kodjoe Sumney, has urged African governments to develop an educational system that would focus on equipping the youth with competitive practical skills and knowledge.
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He said it was time the youth were challenged with educational skills that empowered them to create jobs for themselves and others, instead of looking up to the state for employment.
“Our educational system today is not favourable to our circumstances in this era of industrialisation, hence the time has come to develop purposeful education that provides 80 per cent practical and 20 per cent theories,” he stated.
Speaking at the entrepreneurship, skills and job creation conference in Accra, Dr Sumney said, “Until we change gear and come up with industrial-oriented education, our universities will continue to produce graduates without practical employable skills and knowledge.”
The event, which coincided with the 12th African Union Day, was held on the theme “Shift the gears”.
It was organised by Mission Africa Incorporated, in collaboration with Parliament and the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC).
Relevant education
Dr Sumney said the colonial educational system that African states had held on to till today had grown irrelevant to their current development aspirations, with most of the tertiary institutions focused so much on humanities.
He said on the contrary, the United States of America (USA) and Europe today had tertiary institutions that were strongly manufacturing-oriented and produced graduates who were able to create jobs for themselves and their communities.
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“Sadly, African universities mostly produce graduates who after school, continue to stay at home to be fed by their parents, and this is a reverse of good education.
“We have prayed and spoken in tongues enough; we now need a pragmatic educational system that teaches our people not only to use their heads to think but also equips them with practical employable skills and knowledge,” he stated.
He said nations such as Malaysia, Singapore, China and Japan had been able to reach their current development status without copying blindly the Western education, saying, “They blended their education with those from the West in relevance to their development needs.”
“For decades, we have copied the British education which is not helping us progress and it is time we resort to education that trained the minds and the hands equally.
Focus on technology
“We, therefore, need technology to be manufacturing-oriented and produce graduates who can help transform our continent from being import-dependent,” he added.
According to him, it was time Africa’s educational system gave priority to the continent’s environment, including its rich minerals and produce from its arable land.
“It is time we began adding value to resources from our own environment to meet our daily needs instead of using scarce foreign exchange to import the items we use every day,” Dr Sumney said.
Regional integration
The second Vice-President of the Ghana Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Nana Dr Appiagyei Dankawoso I, said Africa, over the last decade, had seen unparalleled and sustained growth.
He said between 2000 and 2010, six of the world’s fastest growing economies were in Africa, yet in spite of these achievements, the continent was inundated with poverty and diseases.
“We need to overcome these challenges and help improve the lives of our people to embrace integration to allow free trade and movement of goods and services along our borders,” he said.