The Minister for Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, has attributed the high level of youth unemployment in the country to the nature of courses offered by tertiary institutions in the country.

Addressing a gathering at this year’s New Year School at the University of Ghana, the sector Minister explained that many programmes on offer at the tertiary level do not contribute to job creation.

According to him, even though some of these courses are duly accredited, they do not meet the demands of industry and the job market.

He stressed the need for an immediate overhaul of tertiary programmes to bridge the disconnect between industry and academia.

Dr Adutwum added that his outfit is working assiduously to initiate this much needed change to better the lives of young people across the country.

“So many students have enrolled in diploma in education. They’re being trained for jobs that do not exist.

“Thousands and thousands are graduating for jobs that do not exist … I’m fully aware and we’re engaging the universities. I think we need to focus on courses that have relevance to that particular student and to the nation”, the Minister said.

“We need to change course. Because unemployment invariably comes from the fact that we’re training the graduates for courses that don’t exist”, he added.

The sentiments of the Minister adds to the calls for policymakers to make education more job-oriented.

Ghana’s rate of unemployment is increasing by the year, with many young graduates finding it difficult to land decent jobs.

The situation has led to thousands of unemployed youth, some of whom have become depressed due to their state of idleness.

Others have also been comepelled to abandon their certificates for menial jobs just to survive.

Due to the situation, young male graduates have resorted to sports betting to come by some cash to make ends meet.

Meanwhile, government maintains that it is working around the clock to deal with the unemployment crisis.