The minister of education, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, has stated that his department is coordinating with the leaders of higher institutions to phase out any unnecessary programs.
He asserts that several tertiary-level programs fall short of the needs of the labor market.
The sector minister cited the lack of programs with connections to the labor market as the reason for the high unemployment rate in the nation while speaking at the 74th Annual New Year School at the University of Ghana.
As a result, he underlined the government’s plans to improve the situation.
“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”, he said.
“I think we need to focus on courses that have relevance to that particular student and to the nation.
“We need to change course. Because unemployment invariably comes from the fact that we’re training the graduates for courses that don’t exist”, Dr Adutwum added.
The minister’s opinions support the need for policymakers to focus education more on employment.
Every year, Ghana’s unemployment rate rises as more recent graduates struggle to find meaningful employment.
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 will be working around the clock to deal with the unemployment crisis.