Government and University Officials including the Vice President, H.E Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia in a photo before the event
The opening ceremony of the 69th Annual New Year School and Conference was held at the Great Hall of the University of Ghana on Monday 15 January 2018 on the theme, “Job Creation for Accelerated National Development: The Role of the Private Sector,” organised by the School of Continuing and Distance Education.
In the Opening Session, the Vice President of Ghana, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, touted the government’s achievements within one year in office. These include creating fiscal space and realigning expenditures to government priorities.
Vice President, H.E Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia delivering his address
Dr. Bawumia acknowledged the current high unemployment rate as a national security issue, but he assured Ghanaians of government’s commitment to creating an enabling environment that would allow the private sector to drive the job-creation agenda. He reiterated government’s plans to create jobs for 100,000 unemployed graduates in 2018 through the Nation Builders Corps initiative announced in the 2018 budget.
In his address, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Professor Ebenezer Oduro Owusu, identified the economy’s limited capacity to create employment vis-à-vis the growth of the labour force as a major cause of the high unemployment rate.
Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Professor Ebenezer Oduro Owusu
According to him, more than a third of skills considered relevant today would be obsolete by 2020, as technologies would be performing many tasks previously done by humans. He therefore called on government and tertiary institutions to urgently adapt the future workforce and graduates to the areas of critical thinking and creativity, in order to give them an urge over technology.
The Executive Chairman of Jonah Capital, Sir Sam Jonah, delivered the keynote address in which he underscored the urgency of creating jobs particularly for the youth and enhancing the role of the private sector.
Executive Chairman of Jonah Capital, Sir Sam Jonah, delivering the keynote address
The 69th Annual New Year School and Conference is from 15th to 19th January 2018 and the purpose of the New Year School is to provide a platform for the dispassionate discussion of important issues of national and international concern.
Please click here to view the video of the Opening Ceremony
Please click here for more photos of the Opening Ceremony
Please click here for the speech of Vice President Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia
Please click here for the Keynote Address by Sir Sam Jonah
Please click here for the brouchure of the conference
