President Nana Akufo-Addo has urged universities in Ghana to redesign their academic curriculum to align skills of graduates with the job market.

According to the President, although there has been a significant investment by different administrations under the Fourth Republic in the education sector, the country is yet to derive the needed benefit and called on the universities and other stakeholders to work together to end the problem.

He said Ghana’s problem of a skills-job market mismatch among the teeming number of graduates is the result of a lack of collaboration between academia and industry.

President Akufo-Addo made the remarks when he addressed the 50th anniversary of the Association of African Universities.

“Studies have established that investment in human resource is one venture that yields the maximum benefit to any nation. We face the very unpleasant fact that for many of our graduates that a university education no longer guarantees a job.

“We need to make sure that the curricula we offer are relevant to the skill needs of the job market.  Our products should have transferable skills to enable them cope with the reality of the modern day world of work,” the President said.

The Association of African Universities, whose headquarters is in Accra, was founded in Rabat, Morocco on November 12, 1967. 

It provides a platform for research, reflection, consultation, debates, co-operation and collaboration on issues pertaining to higher education. It has provided a range of services to its members and served African higher education in a variety of ways.

President Akufo-Addo also criticised what he described as foreign interference in education on the continent through funding of higher education, which he said works against the interest of African countries.

“We should never have to rely on the World Bank or any other institution to decide for us where the emphasis should be in our education should be. Education is the key to our development and we must run our economy to be able to fund the education of our young people,” the President said.