Tertiary institutions urged to create job opportunities

Accra, April 26, GNA - Tertiary institutions have been urged to provide paid job opportunities on campus for students to help improve their financial status and reduce the burden on parents. Speaking at the inauguration of the University of Ghana Business School (UGBS) in Accra on Wednesday, Mr Anthony Oteng-Gyasi, Chairman of the University Council, said it was important that tertiary institutions adapted to the dynamics of change in the world where universities overseas provided such opportunities. He noted that students who travelled to western countries during vacations were made to do menial jobs and it was important they offered themselves for such paid jobs in the country. Mr Oteng-Gyasi suggested that students could be offered two- to three-hour paid jobs, which could help improve their financial status on campus.

"Why should we be reluctant to do such jobs like providing security and cleaning to enhance our own welfare?" he asked. He commended the School for including Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in its programmes but said this should involve the application of skills since the business community had often expressed worry at the inability of graduates to demonstrate their capabilities on the market.

Mr. Oteng-Gyasi stressed the need for fresh graduates to set up their own businesses to help reduce the unemployment problem and urged the students to invest in the ICT industry than buying of mobile phones. Professor Kofi Nti, Dean of UGBS, said the name change from School of Administration to UGBS was necessitated by modern business trends and the vision to become the premier business school in the sub-region. Professor Nti said the School was in the process of revising its Bachelor of Science and Master of Business Administration (MBA) curricula to integrate ICT into the course to enhance the provision of leadership roles.

He said the School was currently assisting the civil service to build capacity in policy analysis through the Ghana Central Governance Project and collaborating with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Global Business School Network to set up a world class entrepreneurship centre to support Small and Medium Enterprises in the country. Professor Nti said the School had made strides in infrastructure improvement, such as renovations of auditoriums and the creation of the executive education facilities at Ridge for the Executive MBA programme and called on stakeholders to support the school through provision of funds. The UGBS was established in 1952 and has its origins in the Department of Commerce at the Kumasi College of Technology, now Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. The Department was transferred to Achimota in 1959, reconstituted into the College of Administration by an Act of Parliament and was finally incorporated into the University of Ghana in 1962 as School of Administration.

The University Council approved the name change in July 2004 from School of Administration to UGBS to support its vision for pre-eminence in the sub-region. 26 April 07