Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the Vice President of Ghana, has called on Universities in the country to provide innovative solutions to challenges facing businesses and government policies to engender socio-economic development.
The Vice President underscored the need for enhanced collaboration between academia, industry, and government for mutual benefit.
Dr. Bawumia made the call at the launch of the 60th-anniversary celebration of the University of Ghana Business School (UGBS), Legon, Accra.
The year-long celebration is on the theme: “The Future of Business Education in Ghana: Reflecting on the 60-Year Experience of the University of Ghana Business School.” The event attracted key stakeholders including alumni, students, faculty members, the Dean, and Directors of the School.
Vice President Bawumia urged the Business School to embrace technology to build on its competitive advantage, saying “You have the opportunity to expose your students to artificial intelligence and help them explore big data and the internet of things to help position them as global citizens”.
“With technology, the faculty should find different ways to actively engage students– experiential learning, game-based learning, and problem-based learning – to help impart soft skills such as autonomy, creativity, leadership, and effective collaboration.”
Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia
Educational Institutions to Champion Development
Dr. Bawumia noted that educational institutions are strategically placed to champion the development aspirations of the nation.
“It is, therefore, time for the nation to be propelled to elevated levels through cutting-edge research that seeks to solve problems as well as bring the necessary innovations.
“The government’s industrialization drive (one-district-one-factory) can be enhanced, and in fact revitalized, if educational institutions position themselves well and provide the research capacity to support the initiative.”
Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia
Dr. Bawumia averred that there should be re-awakening, re-assessment, and re-vitalization of the UGBS. He moreover, entreated the school’s alumni to support the proposed endorsement and scholarship fund as well as other developmental projects.
The Vice President used the occasion to redeem a promise he made to the UGBS in January this year to supply 100 laptop computers to the School’s ICT Centre.
Professor Justice Nyigmah Bawole, Dean of UGBS, chronicled the history and various programs and executive courses run by the school, saying “The school started with 194 students and over the period, it has graduated 94,184 graduates and more than 56,000 graduates in Executives Courses that are relevant to the industry.”
These graduates, he said, occupied various positions of relevance in organizations and contributed their quota towards solving societal needs.
The UGBS came into existence by an Executive Instrument (E.I 127) by the Government of Ghana in January 1960. It was then known as the College of Administration. The school was renamed School of Administration in 1962 and eventually the University of Ghana Business School in 2004.
The Dean indicated that the school is focused on developing world-class human resources and capabilities to meet national developmental needs and global challenges, through quality teaching, learning, research, and knowledge dissemination.
The year-long celebration will involve activities such as public lectures, athletics, fun games, the unveiling of a statue, and a scholarship scheme for needy but brilliant students.
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