Posted by We are being educated in school to transition into the industry, or so we were told. How many working graduates out there can boldly testify of a smooth transition? For me, just a few. There always seems to be some gap.
Could “school” really be a scam? Well, that is another discussion for another day.
This post is a random thought. So I am thinking and sharing along.
I agree with Albert Einstein that “education is that which remains when one has forgotten everything he learned in school.” Yes, education is a personal cross one must bear in all pursuits, regardless of your field. One may argue that whatever gap is left in school is an individual responsibility. I will agree to some extent.
However, I believe all parties involved have a role to play; the students, the lecturers, the parents, the government etc.
So how can the government of Ghana help “industrialize” graduates or still “industrialize” the tertiary educational structure and its activities?
In my homeland Ghana, there’s a one-year “service to the country” called the National Service Scheme (NSS) that is mandatory for all “fresh” graduates. Can there be similar structures to ensure students are well-versed in their respective industries before they become graduates?
I acknowledge that internships and other voluntary works help in this regard but most students in Ghana face a lot of challenges in getting internships and even after getting the internships. Now, per Ghana’s tax laws, some tax incentives are given to firms that employ fresh graduates. Great! Now can we have some form of incentives by law (not necessarily tax laws) that will encourage firms across all industries/sectors to say, offer internships to (at some specified minimum number) tertiary students for some months for some specified number of times in a year?
For example, a specified incentive by law for firms to hire a minimum of 20 tertiary students (in their related sector or fields) for (3) months of internship and run this in badges like four (4) times a year?
Can the government liaise with firms from various industries or sectors to make internships readily accessible to tertiary students with fair conditions?
I’ve got to go. Hopefully, later I will talk about the other parties involved. But for this morning,
Apart from these internship ideas, what other structures can the government set to make tertiary students “graduate” as “industry players?”