Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, the Minister of Education, says the country is poised to transform education to attract other African students.
“We have to position ourselves to become the country of choice in education by producing the requisite manpower to attract industries into the country,” he said.
The Minister said this in Accra at this year’s 74th Annual New Year School and Conference in Accra, organised by the School of Continuing and Distance Education, College of Education, University of Ghana.
The Conference, which is ongoing, is on the theme; “Positioning the African Market for Sustainable Economic Development Through AfCFTA”.
To take advantage of AfCFTA, he said it was necessary to prioritise education to know the crops that were grown in other African countries and where Ghana’s comparative advantage was.
Dr Adutwum said, “We have to look at internationalising and localising our curriculum to be fit for purpose and meet the 21st century learning environment.”
He notd that Vietnam had become centre of attraction for industries across the world because it had revamped its education system and produced over 100,000 engineers every year.
The Minister said the Ministry in 2022 introduced a one-year pre-engineering course for graduates of Senior High School students without science background.
He said the programme was being piloted at the University of Mines and Technology and Pentecost University to encourage arts students who had the desire to offer engineering programmes in the universities and also promote the study of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.
“The intervention is part of the Ministry’s plans to transform education in the country and to respond to the needs of industry players and be competitive in the market sphere,” he said.
Dr Adutwum said the Ministry had started consultations to develop a new High School curriculum for world grounded courses for students to be competitive and take advantage of AfCFTA.
Professor Angela Owusu-Ansah, Provost, Ashesi University, said the University offered courses in entrepreneurship to equip business students to take full advantage of AfCFTA.
The 74th Conference feature presentations on financial, educational, governance, security, and digital technology preparedness for AfCFTA.
Since its inception in 1948, the Conference has been the flagship programme of the University and attracts people from all walks of life to deliberate on topical issues of national and international interest.
The recommendations inform policy decisions and directions in the country.
GNA
