The C.E.O of Private Enterprise Federation, Nana Osei Bonsu, has called for an increased collaboration between academia and industry to ensure effective development of businesses.

He urged schools and industries to stop the lamentations and criticisms and focus on how to collaborate to provide solutions industry needs.

Speaking at a ceremony to mark the 70^th Anniversary of the University of Ghana, he criticized schools for being too theory-oriented and called for a change.

The Institute of Applied Science and Technology under the college of Basic and Applied Science hosted various industry players to discuss effective academia and industry collaboration. The institute is the main institution for the transfer of knowledge, technology and innovation developed at the University of Ghana to the industry.

Nana Osei Bonsu who spoke during the industry-academia interaction charged all universities across the country to make it a policy to allow students spend time at industries and acquire practical knowledge of what they are learning in the classroom.

“The curricular we see in the universities are usually theoretical all the way through the four year period. What we have been advocating for is that they should structure the academic calendar in a way that students will have some practical exposure after spending time in school. Exposure is critical because if you don’t know and you haven’t seen it, you might not know what to do”, he said.

Chief Executive of MacDan shipping company, Dr Daniel Mckorley chastised students for their laidback attitude towards practical learning. He encouraged students not to depend on school learning materials alone but endeavor to learn on their own by taking on internship while in school.