Industries are increasingly going electronic. This e-business environment means organizations are deploying software applications that reduce their engagement of human resource in general operations.

Ghanaian business magnate, Dr. Michael Agyekum Addo, has observed such revolution in the world of work is the biggest challenge to graduate employment.

The changes, he noted, require that educational institutions revise their training models to churn out graduates with a mindset to solve problems, using the principles of entrepreneurship.

“It’s up to the human beings in the universities to tailor their academic work to help themselves; that’s why we’re talking about entrepreneurship, self-made, self-sustaining, self-employment. You look around your environment, [identify] all the needs gaps and you try to fill in,” he stated.

Citing the examples of thriving businesses like Koko King and Adinkra Pastries, Dr. Agyekum Addo said “most of these wayside businesses is what the graduate should aim at because all the industries are now going electronic and so might not have the space”.

He spoke to LuvNews after addressing the 1^st Regional Conference on Problem Based Learning and E-Learning, hosted by the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).

Vice-Chancellor of the KNUST, Prof. William Otoo Ellis has acknowledged “universities are established to solve problems of society”, hence the need to train students “with the mindset to identify problems, to be able to work as teams, and through that solve problems so that society will have improvement in their way of life”.

He encouraged higher educational institutions to embrace the problem-based learning approach to train productive graduates.

“If we are able to effectively do these things, then the meaning of universities becomes real,” he noted.

The PBL Conference has brought together teachers, education managers, educationists and students from universities in Ghana and other West African countries to understand the special needs and opportunities that higher education faces.

“The conference will be a blend of theory, practice and shared experience in PBL/E-learning in developing countries. It aims at activating and promoting research in PBL/E-learning within the context of developmental agenda of Africa,” explained Prof. Robert Clement Abaidoo, Chairman of Building Stronger University Project, KNUST.

Dr. Agyekum Addo, who is the CEO of Kama Group of Companies, has lauded the initiative, saying it is critical to develop the imaginative and cognitive path of graduates to be problem solvers.