prime causes of graduate unemployment in Ghana

THE PRIME CAUSES OF GRADUATE UNEMPLOYMENT IN GHANA

 

Over the years, graduate unemployment has been a major problem in Ghana.  Unemployment is one the significant challenges facing almost all developing countries in the world today. In spite of successive government’s efforts in solving this problem, it appears they have not made any stride in their quest for lasting solutions to this problem. It is not even clear what the future portends with Ghana’s failure to outline the root causes of this graduate unemployment. The causes of graduate unemployment in Ghana includes the following; the search for experienced workers, graduate’s pride, lack of practical knowledge, impact of technology in the field of work, et cetera.

One pivotal cause of graduate unemployment in Ghana is the search for experienced workers. Ghanaian employers believe that experienced workers are the best human resource that can increase productivity. Thus, most employers in the world are dire quest of old, experienced and skilled workers to employ. In the light of this, it is very common to chance job advertisements on newspapers and radio stations clearly outlining five to ten years working experience requirement.  On the contrary, it is very obvious that most graduates actually lack these skills required by the working field.  One cannot deny the fact that, graduates are not served the due skills worth the world of work. This is apparent with the abysmal performance of graduates these days at their workplaces. Perhaps, with a good and skill-oriented educational system, graduates from the university can fit well into the working arena.

 

Another major cause of graduate unemployment in Ghana is the graduate’s pride. University education in Ghana is hyped so high that graduates tend to search only for jobs with good working conditions. They forget that “the journey of a thousand mile begins with one step”. In recent times, most graduates will not accept employment in field works such as; welding, carpentry, masonry, et cetera. They rather would like to sit in the office with air condition. Most graduates will accept employment on the condition that they are given a car, a driver an apartment, and fully finished office. However, Ghana does not have such lucrative jobs to offer these over-ambitious graduates. Many of these graduates are mostly seen rather fomenting troubles in the towns and cities. The pride in these graduates makes them glued to the towns and cities and constituting willing tools in the hands of political figures. Thus, until graduates begin to appreciate and recognize the impact of field works to the development of the nation, the massive unemployment among university graduates may continue to be a problem.

 

Moreover, lack of practical knowledge continues to be a cardinal cause of graduate unemployment. There is very wide gap between academia and industry. The educational system in Ghana seems to be producing countless graduates who cannot solve the problems of the day. Outmoded educational that do not address societal needs are still pursued in the Ghanaian universities. This is not the case in some advanced countries, where the educational sector takes the problems of the day and tries to solve. In Ghana, a mechanical engineering graduate may mention all the parts and functions of a car engine but cannot identify even a single part of the car engine.  So, when such a graduate is offered employment, he/she totally rely on the machine’s manuals to operate the machine. This definitely does not solve Ghana’s problems. Hence, university graduates are usually not appropriate for such practical jobs and this renders them unemployed.

 

Indeed, the impact of technology cannot be left out as a cause of graduate unemployment in Ghana. In spite of the good deeds of technology in the working field, it also remains a major cause of the redundancy of workers at work places. Technology has really drastically affected the population of workers in the offices. The invention of the computer for instance, has seen the reduction of human workers as messengers. In almost all institutions, the record keeping departments that could have employed many graduates have been dissolved. The computer now stores every bit of data and information.  Also most graduates cannot operate certain technological devices and computers used in the advanced working industry. The simultaneous operation of an electron microscope is too cumbersome for the careless university graduate to work with. This therefore disqualifies most university graduates from being offered such jobs. Thus, technological advancement in Ghana’s working field is actually partly responsible for the ever increasing numbers of unemployed graduates in the country.

To sum up, Graduate unemployment appears to be on the increase because; Ghana’s government policies do not favor the educational sector that produces the graduates, university graduates tend to seek only good paying jobs and ignoring the experience that they would acquire to make them the employers choices. Lastly, the impact of technology is also a factor worth considering when it comes to unemployment.  The problem of graduate unemployment will become a thing of the past, if the nation is ready to comprehend the effects of a poor educational sector. Any approach less than this, the problem of unemployment in general will continue to be a lifelong malady in the Ghanaian society.