The President of the Chartered Institute of Human Resource Management Ghana (CIHRM), Dr. Edward Kwapong, has, on behalf of the Institute, conferred an Honorary Fellow on the Minister for Education, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum.

The conferral was done at the sidelines of the 15th Graduation ceremony of the CIHRM Ghana on Thursday, November 30, 2023, at the auditorium of the Shippers Authority, Ridge, Accra.

Dr. Edward Kwapong explained that the status of Fellow is the highest level to which a member of the HR professional institute or anyone in Corporate/Industry can aspire.

The President of CIHRM Ghana congratulated the graduates for their sacrifice and self-denial that they have gone through.

He cautioned that the certificate is only a license to the theater, adding, “ Your continued stay, progression and elevation at your workplace will depend on how well you apply this certificate to the demands of your work at the workplace”.

Dr. Kwapong urged the new graduates to go out there to practice as professionals rather than academics.

He said, industry, while admiring excellent grammar, is more interested in practical solutions. “Be proficient alright, but more professional in your practice and conduct”, he added.

The CEO of the CIHRM Ghana, Dr. Ebenezer Ofori Agbettor added that “As a Fellow or Honorary Fellow, you should be able to hold your own and make pronouncement on any situation in the profession that you may be confronted”.

He revealed that the Minister for Education has done so on many fronts, especially in relation to the institute obtaining a Charter Status and the Legislative Instrument (LI), which matured on November 28, 2023, after it was laid in Parliament 21 days ago with the number LI 2474.

The Chairman of the Professional Certification Board presented 316 graduates, consisting of 58 men and 258 women. This is the second largest congregation that the institute has presented.

He hinted that this year a total of 1,125 students wrote the exams across the Examination Centres in Kumasi, Ho, Takoradi, Accra and for the first time, in Sunyani, adding, “These numbers represent candidates who wrote in our January and July Examinations in 2023”.

The Minister of Education, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, who was the Guest Speaker at the ceremony, underscored the importance of relevant university programmes in tackling the prevailing unemployment challenges confronting the nation.

Speaking under the theme: “Making Tertiary And Professional Education Count in the World of Work”, Dr. Adutwum said higher education institutions are integral to empowering individuals with the skills and knowledge needed to thrive in today's competitive job landscape.

“When the students come out, they have to come out as people who are qualified for the world of Work. You see, sometimes we just blame the economy and say the economy is not growing fast enough. That is why we are not securing jobs. But sometimes, you know, as HR professionals, the CVs that you get, you don't have the appetite to hire,” he stated.

The Ghana Statistical Service’s Annual Household and Expenditure Survey (AHIES) revealed that unemployment rate rose from 13.4% to 13.9% (1.8 million people) in the second quarter of 2022.

Only about 10 per cent of all University graduates gain employment in public service annually, according to the Ghana Association of University Administrators (GAUA).

Acknowledging the rapidly evolving nature of industries and the emergence of new job sectors, Dr. Adutwum stressed the need for educational programs that adapt to these changes.

He emphasised that fostering collaboration between academia and industries is crucial to ensure that students are equipped with the practical skills demanded by the workforce.

“Recently the demand for national service personnel is so interesting that more companies are looking for those who graduated with mathematics degrees and computer science and they can't find them. So, in tertiary education and beyond, we have to look at the relevance of the programmes that are offered in our universities and that’s when we can begin to talk about transformation”.

“So if you hear me talk about STEM and STEM and STEM is not for the fun of it. It is laying a strong foundation for our country in a way where our education system will be relevant to the needs of our country,” he stated.