Can the job market absorb all MBA, Humanities, Managment graduates? Mahama asks


President John Mahama has asked industry and employers to let government know the human resource skills they need so universities can tailor their programmes to meet those needs.

The President has lamented “huge numbers of MBA, marketing, humanities, managment graduates. But the question is, can the job market absorb these numbers?”, the President said.

He said this when he opened the National Conference on bridging the gap between Education, Training and Industry on Monday.

The President noted it is easier for youth without tertiary training to land a job than a tertiary graduate.

He attributed this to a social stigma which “makes it difficult for tertiary graduates to accept jobs considered beneath their status”

Apart from the eight public universities, and the accredited degree awarding polytechnics, Ghana now has forty eight private universities.

5046 students who successfully completed their programmes in the 2011/2012 academic year have graduated from the University of Ghana alone.

Students graduate with degrees in Archaelogy, Swahili, Classical History and other programmes in Humanities considered unsuitable for the labour market.

In recent times, there is an MBA for everything. But with the economy growing at 7.4 percent in 2013, many of these graduates will struggle to find jobs.

President John Mahama has urged educational institutions and industries to work together to reduce unemployment in the country. The President said it is important for education institutions to design the appropriate training for students to enable them get jobs after school.

“Industry must let us know the skill set that they require and in which areas of training they require these”, he said.

The President told conference participants he is looking for well-thought out sustainable solutions to address graduate unemployment.

“I would like to hear suggestion on internships….practical attachments….I would like to hear incentives that we can grant business and industry in order that they can recruit and train fresh graduates..and on setting up skills databases to which employers can refer when they want to recruit” Story by Ghana|Myjoyonline.com|Edwin Appiah|[email protected]

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