Ghana Works: professional education makes the difference
International conference on higher professional education and the world of work in Ghana - Wednesday 14 september 2011
Fruitful employment is both a human right and a necessity for social and economic development. Education enhances both the chances of fruitful employment and the contribution to development of young people. Higher professional education therefore needs to be in close touch with the labour market. Polytechnics and universities of applied sciences do not only have to update the teaching-learning process and the curricula on the basis of developments in the world of work, but they should also be able to discern trends and developments in order to stay ahead of the game.
The discovery of oil in Ghana waters is a good example. Universities and polytechnics need to prepare students to take key positions in this new industry. They need to know what that industry needs in terms of professional and other competences. It would have been exemplary if they had foreseen this development and had the young professionals ready at the start.
Dutch universities of applied sciences and Ghanaian polytechnics share the same challenges in tuning their education to present and future needs of the labour market. They also share the same need to prepare their students for a life in an ever more globalizing world. All our students need international and intercultural competences. In this context the polytechnics of Accra, Cape Coast and Takoradi and The Hague University of Applied Sciences have signed a cooperation agreement.
Together with COTVET (the Council for Technical and Vocational Education and Training) of the Ghanaian Ministry of Education and GEA, the Ghana Employers’ Association, and the Nuffic (the Netherlands Organization of International Cooperation in Higher Education), the Research Group International Cooperation of The Hague University of Applied Sciences has started a study on the articulation between the worlds of learning and working in Ghana.
In order to enhance the cooperation between the higher education institutes in Ghana and the Netherlands, to boost student exchange, to expand the study and to share insights and experiences, the four partners met in The Hague.
The aim of the conference was to explore ways and means of improving fruitful interaction and cooperation between the companies, enterprises and institutions - that constitute the labour market - and profession oriented higher education institutes in Ghana.
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