Current/Upcoming Programme
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NATIONAL STUDENTS’ CONFERENCE 2023
Theme: ‘The Future of the Ghanaian Graduate: Bridging the Industry and Academia’
Overview:
Every year about 200,000 young people (mostly graduates) in Ghana enter into a weak labor market where high unemployment, low productivity, and poverty-level incomes are commonplace. They compete for jobs that do not exist. Many are forced into entrepreneurship though only a few are equipped for it.
It is estimated that as many as 60% of graduates will not find a job two years after their national service and 30% will not find jobs after three years. The challenge lies not only in tackling the already sizable number of unemployed graduates but also in absorbing the new entrants into the labor market.
Further aggravating the situation, the education system to a large extent fails to bridge classroom instructions to industry needs and to teach students how to succeed in a world where self-initiative and self-reliance are required.
Consequently, many young people, whether they drop out of school at an early age or go on to graduate, come out significantly unprepared for the job market and ill-equipped to face the challenges of independent adult life.
This problem has led many young people to resort to greener pastures immediately after school when such opportunities cross their way. This is causing the country a great brain drain.
In 2020, there were slightly over Five hundred and forty-seven thousand (547,000) students enrolled in tertiary education in Ghana; an increase in comparison to the previous year. Enrollment at this educational level has increased over the last 15 years. Yet, Ghana’s system of education has received myriads of criticism. Critics point to its text and theoretical nature and inadequate practical teaching and learning module among other limitations. Employers’ have also bemoaned the lack of skill set, knowledge, and poor attitudes of graduates as some of the key reasons contributing to graduate unemployment. These limitations draw a number of critical questions; what is the position of academia to ensure that Ghana’s education structure can make her compete with the rest of the world and prepare students to catch up with the current global revolutions such as the “Fourth Revolution”, “Cyber-Physical System (CPS), Internet of Things (IoT) and Networks – Artificial Intelligence (AI)”?
Africa, generally missed out from the first generation to the third generation of Global Industrial Revolution. It can only be argued that Africa’s contributions to these Revolutions has been manpower just as all others and not technological innovations and intelligence. And the benefits of these revolutions to Africa, least to say has largely been as passive importers and users of the product of these revolutions. This demands a wake-up and a change in direction and educational reorientation to place Africans particularly Ghana in the right position to swiftly take advantage of the new revolution (4th revolution) to transform its human resources for economic growth and development.
Problem Statement:
Ghana continues to battle a crisis of annual increment in graduates and a youth unemployment. This crisis is becoming a social and economic threat to the nation, but successive governments have touted and praised themselves for creating 100s of thousands of jobs for the Ghanaian youth and graduates, yet this lip service is a stark contrast to the reality on the ground as many young graduates remain jobless and unemployed. Currently, Ghana’s unemployment rate has risen to 13.4 percent. And a staggering 32.8 percent of Ghanaians aged 15 to 24 are unemployed.
(Source:https://africa.cgtn.com/2021/12/17/ghanas-unemployment-rate-rises-to-13-4-percent/ )
This year alone, the National Service Scheme (NSS) has enrolled a total of 115,240 national service personnel for the 2022/2023 service year. However, the government in its 2023 budget statement which was read on Thursday, November 24, 2022 by the Finance Minister, Hon. Ken Ofori-Atta, indicated that it is not going to roll out any new employment for 2023.
Now, that raises a worrying problem and the question is, what alternatives or option are available for the fresh graduates, previous and current NSS personnel? Must these young innocent graduates rot in the house? Wouldn’t this situation escalate the already existing huge number of unemployed graduates and heighten the social and security threat the situation holds for the country?
The campaign that students and youth should go into entrepreneurship has become the mantra of the day, but the nagging questions staring us in the face are these; first, have we trained and oriented our students and youth to understand, appreciate and to cultivate the culture of entrepreneurship? Have they been trained to be able to stand and navigate the attendant challenges inherent in entrepreneurship?
We must at this point acknowledge that the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme (NEIP), Ghana Enterprise Agency (GEA) and the recently introduced “YouStart”, initiative designed by the government of Ghana to provide technical advice and financial support to student entrepreneurs and students in business (startup) but how do the youth and students take advantage of these initiatives to access these opportunities and how do we ensure the sustainability of the program?
Now that the government of Ghana is freezing public-sector employment in 2023, the only alternative solution lies in the private sector’s ability and readiness to employ more. Yet, what alternatives do the private-sector hold for Ghanaian students and fresh graduates? This question becomes relevant when we factor the challenges and difficulties saddling the private sector. In the current economic quagmire, many firms have already resorted to laying off their staff to keep business afloat while other are probably contemplating similar measures. What is government’s interventions to adequately empower the private-sector to be employment ready to absorb the teeming unemployed youth and graduates? In this regard, does the Ghanaian youth and students have a future assured of prosperity after school?
Over the past decades, the private-sector has continued to be a major provider of employment in Ghana. This important role has become even more essential in the light of the current economic situation and we call on the private sector as a matter of urgency to step up firmly with remedies to the hiking unemployment issue.
This is why NASAAG is organizing the National Students’ Conference to host students and youth-led stakeholders and industry players, Academia, Government and Non-Governmental Organizations, Business Owners and Investors, National Students’ and Youth Unions, and Corporate Organizations and Professionals under one umbrella to discuss immediate and future temporary and permanent solutions to the graduate unemployment crisis.
The future is the youth and the youth is the future. Solutions to problems of the youth Today are essentially contribution to the better future we all envision. The time to act is now!
Target Audience:
The conference intends to bring together;
- Tertiary and Senior High Students
- Fresh Graduates and NSS Candidates
- Students and Youth Entrepreneurs
We are expecting to host a total of one thousand plus (1,000 +) Ghanaian students from Senior High Schools, Training Colleges, and Universities from both public and private institutions.
Collaborative Student Unions and Associations; University Students’ Association of Ghana (USAG), National Health Students’ Association of Ghana (NAHSAG), National Union of Ghana Students’ (NUGS) Private University Students’ Association of Ghana (PUSAG) Technical University Students’ Association of Ghana (TUSAG), Ghana Union of Professional Students’ (GUPS)
Conclusion; Aim and Objective:
At the end of the conference, we should be able to connect students and fresh graduates by their specific needs to register with designated organizations or agencies for grooming, mentorship, internship and startup support, and investment. These organizations or agencies will be invited as partners and sponsors of the conference where a booth or stands will be allocated to them to activate or engage with students.
Some of the prospective partners include; the National Entrepreneurship and Innovative Programme (NEIP) Youth Employment Agency (YEA) Ministry of Youth and Sports, the Ghana Enterprise Agency (GEA), the National Youth Authority (NYA) Ghana Chamber of Young Entrepreneurs (GCYE) Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Ghana Food and Drug Authority (FDA) Ghana Registrar General Department, and international or foreign organizations like CAMPFED, GIZ, Ghana Startup Network, Kumasi Hive, etc.
Facilitators/Speakers:
High-profile and renowned personalities who have distinguished success in their career and profession with a track record of generational impact across industries; The academia; lecturers and VCs, Business owners and Investors, Financial and investment experts, Employers and Corporate Professionals, and Political leaders.
For Inquiries, Sponsorship/Partnership
Email: nasaawardsghana@gmail.com
Call/WhatsApp: +233 (0) 50 880 2076
NASAAG CAREER SUMMIT 2022
Campus Tour
The ‘NASAAG Campus Tour’ is an annual Universities, Colleges, and High Schools tour designed to provide career development and capacity building to prepare and empower students to fit for employment (Employability Skills) in the job market, in line with empowering students to cultivate the culture of business, entrepreneurship and other economic ventures or enterprises.
The Aim of the ‘Campus Tour’ is to prepare students to develop skills beyond academic qualifications for the contemporary job market and job creation.
The Objective is to bridge the gap between the industry and academia, and resource students with competitive-skilled-competence to feed the industry and self-development.