FORMAL EDUCATION IN GHANA FAILED TO PRODUCE MORE ENTREPRENEURS-LECTURER IN HO POLY

Mr Israel Kofi Nyarko the Head of the Marketing Department of Ho Polytechnic bemoaned how formal education in Ghana has failed to develop the entrepreneurial skills of the Ghanaian child rendering most youth myopic minded and dependent solely on government for survival.

Mr Israel Nyarko observed that the current educational system does not create the enabling ambiance for students to develop their entrepreneurial skills which was to be hereditary.  He said the various tribes in Ghana were naturally endowed with entrepreneurial skills which when harnessed could help develop the country adding that our forefathers were good artisans, entrepreneurs with others well-endowed in the creative arts.

Mr Israel Nyarko who is also the Rector of the Graduate Institute of Executive Development, Ho said the educational system is rather polishing citizens to be poor with the intellects seemly the poorest. 

‘’I believe in education but let me tell you that one of the things we need to re-educate ourselves on is to be able to distinguish formal education from entrepreneurship because our misconception about formal education has destroyed our entrepreneurial talents and abilities. Today the Ghanaian would go to school just to learn, read, write, pass exams and go out there looking for job. In the Chinas, Malaysias and countries we envy, the people that do the so called ground job or the donkey jobs are the educated’’. How would it profit you if you studied and read all the books in Automobile Engineering but cannot practically service a carburettor? he quizzed.  

He revealed this at the recently held Barcamp Ho2014 were he was the guest speaker. A Barcamp is a free networking forum that converge people for a day of discussion, demos and dialogue and runs across Ghana and beyond yearly. The Barcamp Ho which was the fourth in the Volta regional capital took place at the Auditorium of the University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS) near the Volta Regional Hospital (Trafalgar) on theme “Re-Educating Ourselves for the New Entrepreneurial World”. The program gave a platform for stakeholders and the youth in the Volta region to brainstorm on how to translate their ideas into actions through entrepreneurial skills.

Mr Nyarko  however suggested educational institutions concentrate more on the practical education than the theory whiles encouraging students to be entrepreneurs.

 Ato Ulzen-Appiah, director of GhanaThink Foundation; organisers of Barcamp was happy with the attendance at the event. ‘’Almost all the mentors at Barcamp Ho were based in Ho, showcasing the diversity of talent abounding in the Volta regional capital’’. He hopes to see more working professionals based in Ho attending the next Barcamp Ho.