“It Won’t Lead Anywhere”: Yaw Osei Adutwum Lists Needless University Courses Offered in Ghana

• Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, former Education Minister, criticised some university courses contributing to Ghana's graduate unemployment crisis
• The Bosomtwe Member of Parliament (MP) wondered about the relevance of certain courses offered in Ghanaian universities
• Public reactions emphasised the need for more technical and critical thinking courses in Ghana's educational system

Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, a former Education Minister during the erstwhile Akufo-Addo administration, shared his thoughts on certain courses offered by universities in Ghana that will not land graduates a job.

According to Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, he challenged some of the universities when he was a Minister on the said courses.

The educationist turned politician blamed the high level of graduate unemployment on the unemployable courses offered in some of the universities in the country.

"When I was a minister, I challenged universities about that. I spoke about the fact that we don't need anybody to offer courses called development studies, and it was being offered at UDS."

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"So, the Vice Chancellor called me and said, 'Minister, because of the comment that you made, a student had just come to check out of Development Studies.' I responded, 'Good for him,' because you know and I know that that course is not taking the student anywhere."

The Member of Parliament of Bosomtwe Constituency mentioned another course offered at the University of Development Studies (UDS) that he believes does not help students.

"They have a course called development education. It doesn't qualify the student to teach, and I don't know what industry or company is going to employ a student who has done development education."

Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum added that the University of Ghana, for instance, also has a course in education which he believes is not needed.

"Go to the University of Ghana, and they have an education course that they call BA in Education (non-teaching). They come and do their national service, and afterwards they are frustrated because nobody is hiring them."

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"So, University degree to nowhere. So, you wonder why you have graduate unemployment when you have allowed universities to set up branch campuses everywhere and they are all offering teaching as a course," he added.

Watch the Facebook video below:

List of needless university courses causes stir

YEN.com.gh collated some reactions to the video shared by Derrick Abaitey on Facebook. Read them below:

Alexander Appiah said:

"We need to implement a course like "Critical thinking" in the educational system. Critical thinking with reasoning. Start from middle school ...up to university level."

Sumaya Sulemana wrote:

"Development studies courses are not important???? Go and ask the UN and its agencies and come back, sir."

Prince Nal said:

"No programme is useless, but we need to look at how engineering and Technical courses are taught in our schools... A developing country like ours needs more technical men because such professionals are used to build a nation."

Danny Kojo Mint wrote:

"I agree with this view. As a developing country, Ghana should prioritise science, technology, engineering, and technical education. These fields are the foundation of industrialisation, innovation, and sustainable development. If we invest more in them, we will develop the skills needed to design, build, and maintain our own infrastructure, create jobs, reduce dependence on foreign expertise, and take charge of our national development."

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Nana Kwame said:

"I agree with him. So many non-useful courses are being offered by these universities these days."

Lady says UG IS the best university in Ghana

Earlier, YEN.com.gh reported that a young Ghanaian lady was asked to name the best university in Ghana, and her choice got many talking online.

The lady named the University of Ghana (UG) as the best in the country and compared it to other tertiary institutions.

Social media users who watched the video thronged the comment section to share their thoughts on the lady's choice.

Source: YEN.com.gh