Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia, has urged universities in the country to provide innovative solutions to challenges facing businesses and government policies to engender socio-economic development.

He underscored the need for an enhanced collaboration between the academia, industry and government for their mutual benefit. Vice President Bawumia made call when he launched the 60th anniversary celebration of the University of Ghana Business School (UGBS) in Accra on Wednesday.

The Vice President also redeemed a promise he made to the UGBS in January this year, to supply 100 laptop computers to the School’s ICT Centre.

The year-long celebration is on the theme: “The Future of Business Education in Ghana: Reflecting on the 60-Year Experience of the University of Ghana Business School,” which attracted key stakeholders including alumni, students, Faculty members, Dean and Directors of the School.

The UGBS came into existence by an Executive Instrument (E.I 127) by the Government of Ghana in January 1960. It was then known as the College of Administration. The school was renamed School of Administration in 1962 and eventually the University of Ghana Business School in 2004.

It is focused on developing world-class human resources and capabilities to meet national developmental needs and global challenges, through quality teaching, learning, research and knowledge dissemination.
The year-long celebration will involve activities such as public lectures, athletics, fun games, unveiling of a statue and scholarship scheme for needy but brilliant students.

Vice President Bawumia urged the Business School to embrace technology to build on its competitive advantage, saying; “You have the opportunity to expose your students to artificial intelligence and help them explore big data and internet of things to help position them as global citizens”.

“With technology, the faculty should find different ways to actively engage students – experiential learning, game-based learning and problem-based learning – to help impart soft skills such as autonomy, creativity, leadership and effective collaboration,” the Vice President added.

Dr Bawumia noted that educational institutions were strategically placed to champion the development aspirations of the nation, adding: “It is, therefore, time for the nation to be propelled to elevated levels through cutting-edge research that seeks to solve problems as well as bring the necessary innovations”.

“The government’s industrialization drive (one-district-one-factory) can be enhanced, and in fact revitalised, if educational institutions position themselves well and provide the research capacity to support the initiative,” the Vice President stated.

There should be re-awakening, re-assessment and re-vitalisation of our focus, Dr Bawumia said, and entreated the school’s alumni to support the proposed endorsement and scholarship fund as well as other developmental projects.

Professor Justice Nyigmah Bawole, Dean of UGBS, chronicled the history and various programmes and executive courses run by the school.

He said the school started with 194 students, however over the period, it had graduated 94, 184 graduates and more than 56,000 graduates in Executives Courses that were relevant to the industry.

These graduates, he said, occupied various positions of relevance in organisations and contributing their quota towards solving societal needs.