University not glorified vocational institution - Fmr VC replies Senyo Hosi

A former Vice-Chancellor of the country’s premier university has rejected criticisms that graduates from the institution are ill-prepared for the job market.

According to Professor Ivan Addae Mensah “in spite of all the difficulties the University of Ghana is facing, our students are among the best in the world.”

“True, we are not producing at the level that we can but we have done well and can still do a lot better,” he added.

At the event marking the 70th anniversary of the University of Ghana, the CEO of Bulk Oil Distributors standing in front of a sparse audience, directed his tirade at management and lecturers stressing the University is not preparing students for the Job Market.

”You are churning out people with degrees not people with an education, not people with skills.” the former student who boasts of three degrees from the same university queried.

Senyo Hosi attributed the development to a deficit in thinking on the part of the management of the University.

“You guys are not thinking,” he vented at the event that made him its ambassador.

The former Vice-Chancellor of the Unversity of Ghana between 1996 to 2002, periods which cover some of the days of Mr Hosi on the campus has strongly rejected the claims.

Prof Addae-Mensah said not “enough thoughts went into it.

Shedding light on the purpose of University Education, he said, “a university is not a glorified vocational institution where people come to be trained to fit into every type of job.”

The veteran educationist said the mandate of the university is to train people “to be able to adapt and adapt.”

He added that “nobody can walk from a university and go straight into a job. It is not a vocational institution.”

However, it is his position that “once you go through the university system it takes you far less time” to be accustomed to the job market.

The professor says the university trains its students not to fit a particular job because there are several aspects of to every job that no educational institution can prepare you adequately for every scenario one encounters on the job.

He illustrated this with the media.

“If you take one job, like say, the media, there is so much variety and there is no way the school of communication can train everybody to fit into every aspect of media.”

He argues that the onus lies with the employer to “train you on the job.”