Industry must partner GCTU Business School to produce graduates for the job market

By Albert Allotey, GNA 

Accra, July 27, GNA – The Ghana Communication Technology University Business School (GCTUBU) has held a mini-roundtable conference with a call on industry players to collaborate with the institution to help churn out graduates to meet the job market. 

The conference was on the theme: “Expectation of Skills Set for Business Graduates in Ghana,” and it forms part of the rebranding and repositioning of Business Education in Ghana. 

It was attended by participants from the banking industry and the business sectors of the economy. 

Professor Robert Ebo Hinson, the Pro Vice-Chancellor of the Ghana Communication Technology University who made the call said universities around the world do not train students based on what lectures think. 

“All forward looking universities now look into the markets to get a fine sense of what the market is looking for and then use that feedback to create business minded persons to help grow the economy,” he stated. 

The participants in their contributions noted some of the challenges faced by graduates on the job markets were lack of practical knowledge and competency and therefore urged the universities to take internship activities very seriously. 

They said: “It is either the universities are not concentrating much in monitoring graduates in the various institutions that they undertake the internship or the students themselves are not serious because some of them do not appear or show up at the workplace.” 

The participants called for the need to give the students training by building their competencies, knowledge, skills, attitude, and behaviour so that they are not found wanting in their fields of endeavours. 

“Students while in school should visit websites of institutions that they envisaged to work with so they could gather information on their core values, vision and mission while knowing the current development taking place in such institutions,” they stated. 

Mr Godwin Utuka, Director, Quality Assurance and Promotion, GCTU said industry players inputs into the programmes of the Business School was key to producing graduates that would meet their demands as end users of the product. 

“In all that we are doing here if you do not absorb our students then we did not need to be in this business. Your contributions have significant impact on our programmes that we are developing now. We take your input seriously and will improve upon them,” he stated.  

Prof Oppong Appiagyei Ampong, the Dean of the GCTU Business School who gave an overview of the conference said the institution was founded in 2009 and in line with the mandate of the university the school was enjoined to produce graduates based on a very innovative top notch business programme. 

He mentioned some of the programmes as banking and finance, accounting, procurement, logistic and supply, human resource management, marketing, and economics, which are run under five departments. 

He said: “We are moving into the current age, and we want to catch up with the dynamics of the world and therefore we are coming up with new programmes which our research has shown us, so we are able to strengthen academic/industry partnership. 

“We want to enhance students experience and I hope industry will partner us to run as much career development programmes for students to prepare them for the job markets,” he stated.