The Former President of Republic of Ghana H.E John Agyekum Kufuor, has admonished all tertiary graduates to eschew corruption and rather show loyalty and patriotism in all their dealings. He also advised them to to abhor the attitude of getting rich – quick and rather work diligently to improve the socio- economic growth of the country.
Adding that since corruption is the evil tool thwarting national development in the country. He said they should endeavor to live an exemplary lives in the societies they dominate.
The Former President was speaking at the 6th graduation ceremony of Accra Institute of Technology[AIT] which saw 13, students graduating in PhD and 93, in Bachelor Degrees.. He noted that the study of Technology was critical to socio – economic development because it helped policy to be scientific oriented.
He hence urged the graduates to use the knowledge acquired to help address the current challenges confronting the nation. The President of Accra Institute of Technology [AIT] Professor Clement K. Dzidonu, in his speech expressed worried over the graduate unemployment in the country.
This he said, both the public and the private universities must endeavor produce job creators, and not just job seekers only. Adding that, they should rather put in place efforts and initiatives that can transform them into leading entrepreneurial universities up and above being just teaching and research institutions.
More so, he stressed that to overcome the unemployment situation in the country there is a need for the universities to produce graduates who are capable of fitting the job market. “It is not just about modernizing the curriculum for some of the programs on offer, it will in some cases require taking bold and courageous steps to scrap some of the out- of- date traditional technologically – timed programs , redesigning some of the academic programs and introducing new modern and industry relevant programs suited for the modern and competitive job – market and economy” he emphasized.
He said it is in this regard AIT is taking a cue from institutions like Massachusetts Institute of Technology [ MIT] to set- up in Ghana as the first ever Graduate Entrepreneur Institute that will recruit, train and incubate graduates of discipline from any of the nation’s universities who want to go on to set their own corporations and create jobs and wealth’s. The AIT institute is currently offering accredited campus based programs in affiliation with the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology [ KNUST] in fields of: Electrical and Electronic Engineering , Civil Engineering , Computer Engineering and Business Administration.
STORY: Isaac Kofi Dzokpo
