Experts have advocated a move away from the current status quo whereby industry and academia operate in silos, to a collaborative and research-driven partnership wherein both sectors actively contribute to training students for the job market.
While government remains the biggest sponsor of education, the experts said industry should also support academic institutions with funds to enable the latter undertake market-relevant research in a bid to equip students with the relevant skills required for today’s workspace.
Dr. Edward Attah-Botchwey, Vice Dean-Faculty of Accounting and Finance (FAF), University of Professional Studies Accra (UPSA) – one of three experts who spoke to the B&FT – argued it is only when academic institutions are adequately supported with funds that they can be empowered to carry out need-based assessments and perform the necessary research to unearth missing links between industry and academia and find solutions to them – stressing the need for enhanced collaboration and sustained consultation to narrow the existing gulf in training and practice.
“This means that research should be demand-driven; it should be done properly and be data-centred,” Dr. Attah-Botchwey said on the sidelines of the ‘Night with CEOs and Business Leaders for 2023’ event’s maiden edition, organised by the Faculty of Accounting and Finance, UPSA, in Accra.
Explaining further, he said: “What I mean by collaboration and consultation is that industry leaders, such as CEOs and many others at the managerial level, should be able to come into academia and teach students based on relevant data concerning their companies and how they operate. In a similar way, the academic institutions should be interested in conducting research based on relevant data provided by industry to build cases that teach students and enable them to have a fair view of what goes on in industry. For example, Unilever Ghana can make its data available for academia so it’s enabled to build cases which we can use to teach students. When this is done, I can assure you the gap will be narrowed”.
Unlike the developed world where research forms an integral aspect of industry and economic growth, Dr. Attah-Botchwey lamented that most academic institutions are neither equipping students with the right skills, knowledge and soft skills needed to be relevant for industry, nor undertaking any industry-relevant research.
He cited the manufacturing and services sectors as two key areas of the economy that need much collaboration with academia, and stressed the need for robotics, artificial intelligence and ICT to be aligned in the teaching and learning process. “The importance of collaborations in advancing technology and innovation cannot be overemphasised.”
He therefore charged that it is high time academia – with all the intellectuals, access to data and human capital – came out with cutting-edge research for industry to follow.
Similarly, Professor John Kwaku Mensah Mawutor, Pro Vice Chancellor-UPSA, underscored the need for universities to build capacity in the areas of ICT, robotics and artificial intelligence to assist industry and create mutually beneficial opportunities.
He revealed UPSA’s vision to ensure that, in the next few years to come, none of its students will graduate without being equipped with basic skills in information technology – such as coding among others.
“The students we graduate should be able to simulate whatever happens on the stock exchange market. They should not come to the company before knowing theoretical and practical simulations. In UPSA, we are striving to come out with stock exchange and business labs so our students will have practical knowledge of what the industry expects,” he noted, adding that: “We need industry to assist us sustain this drive”.
For his part, Dean of FAF-UPSA, Professor Isaac Boadi, noted that the ‘Night with CEOs and Business Leaders’ event aims to inspire innovation, collaboration and growth. “People that we invited have proffered better solutions and this is not a ‘nine-day wonder’; next year it’s going to be a week-long programme with invitations for experts and industry players to come to our doorstep and teach students what the industry will need and require from them.”.
In all, about 22 CEOs received recognition awards for their companies’ outstanding performances over the years.
