Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum is a former Minister of Education
Former Minister of Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, has raised concerns about the relevance of certain university programmes in Ghana, arguing that some courses do not adequately prepare students for the job market.
Speaking recently on the Konnected Minds podcast, he said that during his tenure, he challenged some universities over the structure and usefulness of some academic courses, particularly the ones he believes do not translate into employable skills.
Dr Adutwum specifically cited two programmes he thinks have no relevance in the job market.
"There are some courses that are being offered. When I was the minister, I challenged universities about that. And I spoke about how we don't need anybody to offer courses called Development Studies and it was being offered at UDS," he stated.
He recounted that after making those remarks about the course, the Vice-Chancellor of the University for Development Studies (UDS) contacted him, indicating that a student had withdrawn from the programme following his comments.
"The Vice-Chancellor called me the day after and said, 'Minister, because of the comment that you made, a student has just come to check out of Development Studies.And I said, it's good for him," he stated.
According to him, such decisions reflect concerns about whether some programmes truly benefit students in the long term.
He also criticised the BA in Education (Non-Teaching) programme at the University of Ghana, saying graduates often struggle to find employment after completing national service.
"You go to the University of Ghana, and they have a course in education that they call BA in Education Non-Teaching. They come and do their national service, and after national service, they are frustrated because nobody is hiring them," he said.
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He described such programmes as leading to what he called a "university degree to nowhere", adding that the trend raises broader concerns about graduate unemployment in the country.
See the video below:
There are some university courses that are useless…
They just want to fill up the spaces!
— Derrick Abaitey (@DerrickAbaitey) July 4, 2026
Ex-Education Minister - Hon Yaw Adutwum on Konnected Minds pic.twitter.com/6Yf5QYZydX
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