President advocates quality career counseling for students

From Edmund Mingle, Kumasi

President Mahama addressing the students

President John Dramani Mahama has called for quality career guidance to support students in selecting courses, especially at the tertiary level.

That, he said, was necessary in ensuring that students pursued academic programmes that are relevant to the job market, and provides an opportunity for employment.

Pursuing courses that have demand in the current modern job market, he said, would also help to address the problem of graduate unemployment.

President Mahama made the call during an encounter with students and faculty members at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Kumasi on Tuesday as part of his campaign tour of the Ashanti Region.

He said it was regrettable that some students undertake courses that are not very relevant or those fields no longer provide job opportunities, adding that students need proper guidance in deciding on courses and career path.

The President also urged the universities to align their academic courses with the demands of industry to help address graduate unemployment.

“Ghana needs a new breed of graduates whose field of study put them at an advantageous position to be absorbed by the private sector based on their knowledge and competency on the job market,” he stressed.

He indicated that many of the courses run by the universities were gradually losing their relevance on the job market.

He said they had become saturated and no longer held any prospects for the industrial development of emerging economies.

Speaking frankly, President Mahama told the students that the public sector had become choked, with the government employing about 600,000 people, saying the private sector now holds the key to employment.

In that regard, he said graduates need to possess the knowledge and skills required by the private sector to gain employment, or be proactive and innovate enough to create their own enterprises.

He encouraged the youth to have the courage to set up their own businesses to create job for themselves and others.

The students listening to President Mahama during the
encounter at the Great Hall of KNUSt

Touching on national development in general, he highlighted his government’s achievements over the last four years and said a lot of progress had been made, and therefore urged the students to vote massively for the ruling NDC to enable them government to continue its works.