The Dean of the University of Ghana Business School is urging students to invest a substantial part of their time on campus participating in volunteer activities and learning other skills.

Prof. Justice Bawole says degrees earned by students alone are not enough to help them survive in this competitive world after they leave school.

Speaking at the 'K–Talk Lecture Series' at the University of Ghana on the topic “what I wish I knew at level 100,” Prof. Bawole told the students: “I wished I knew that getting a degree was not enough.”

“Especially these days. Those days, a degree was enough. But today, if you go out with your degree alone, with your level of naivety, you are doomed,” he added.

The K-Talk lecture series is an initiative of the Kufuor Scholars Program that seeks to bring distinguished resource persons from diverse disciplines and fields to tertiary campuses to cultivate a sense of leadership and patriotism in students.

“What is it that I wished I knew when I was in level 100? That I will put my time to volunteering, I will put my time to helping solve society’s problems. I will put my time into developing business ideas that I had. That I wished that I knew how to support those who are less privileged in our society,” Prof Bawole said.

“Some of you will only sleep during holidays. I tell you, you will finish with first-class, a super graduate, but not employable. I have seen people with first-class but apart from your certificate, you don’t know how to do anything.

"You don’t know how to speak in public, you don’t know how to address people, you don’t know how to dress well,” he told the students.

“So I wished that I knew I had a lot of time to spend time volunteering, doing an internship. Because there are many of you, you don’t know anything, but you want to volunteer and be paid money…Paid for what? What do you have?” he quizzed the students.

“Spend your time creating something out of your hobby,” Prof. Bawole who is also a professor at the Department of Public Administration and Health Services Management told the students.

“People matter. Everywhere you go, make friends,” he added.

Dr Pascal Brenya Coordinator of the Kufuor Scholars Program (KSP) urged the students to have a vision and an action plan for their lives.

He urged them to learn a vocational trade in addition to their studies, build good social currency, learn how to play musical instruments, among other skills in order to survive after school.

KSP Alumni Desmond Walker, Victoria Antwi, and Kabu Nartey, as well as scholar Nathaniel Aidoo, were all present to share their experiences with the students who participated in the session.