Introduction
It is estimated that approximately 20,000 students graduate from the various tertiary institutions in Ghana every year. Less than half of these graduates got any shot at decent jobs after their mandatory one-year National Service.
The Unemployed Graduate Association of Ghana (UGAG) has become the rallying point for these disgruntled graduates who have staged several protests to hammer home their dilemma. Most of such graduates complain of not having enough practical experience especially for those who study engineering and computer science programs.
Experts at a recently held dialogue at the Institute for Democratic Governance-IDEG in Accra on 1st September 2012 concluded that the increasing numbers of youth unemployment poses a threat to national security in the country.
Proposed Solution
A Microelectronics Training and Development Center-MTDC will seek to make practical the training in Information communication and Technology and the promotion of entrepreneurship. This will enable students to be job creators instead of job seekers. In partnership with the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology-KNUST, an MTDC will be set up at the College of Engineering to initially seat 30 students.
MTDC will educate and train students, entrepreneurs and students in the exciting field of microelectronics, and its applications to agriculture, energy, manufacturing, telecommunications, information systems and foster opportunities not only for the acquisition of new knowledge, but also the production and application of new knowledge. It will open new vistas of opportunities for small and medium scale enterprise (SMEs) to differentiate their services and create new values in their product offerings. The centre will provide broad-based innovative training, which would enhance the quality of their business processes.
Trainees test codes on a PIC Microcontroller board at pilot training
Microelectronics presents an opportunity for students, entrepreneurs and hobbyists an opportunity to acquire skills previously not available in the country. The ICT and Telecommunications sector in Ghana has boomed with 98% penetration in mobile telephone access but the country still remains largely a consumer in the sector and not an inventor or creator. With this training targeted at tertiary students and graduates the aim is to enhance training, research and development.
Areas of focus
An embedded systems training for students of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi has been undertaken to create awareness on microelectronics technology and on how to use the PIC micro-contoller to develop solutions and promote entrepreneurship. More such training will be held to deepen understanding and highlight embedded systems potential for students and faculty staff.
The next step is to set up an embedded systems lab and a microelectronics training and development center, such a center will help promote practical ICT learning and teaching, research and entrepreneurship. With this in place, students and entrepreneurs will be assisted to change perception as job creators from job seekers through the development of solutions to the myriad of developmental challenges faced in the country.
The third phase will be to train staff and faculty to manage the center and also promote international partnerships to continuously promote innovation and ideas sharing.
The Center will also promote solutions created by students and entrepreneurs and provide business development services to assist would-be entrepreneurs set up their own businesses.
– Identified competitor
Our competitors are the various universities, polytechnics and tertiary educational institutions such as the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science-KNUST and Technology providing microelectronics training for students as part of their engineering, computer science and physics programs. Also the Kumasi Polytechnic has recently indicated venturing into the manufacture of electronic gadgets such as mobile phones, medical devices and television sets. All these mean an interest to make use of microelectronics technology, hence KCLL is in discussions with the Polytechnic to set up a similar center to assist in research, development and training.
However, our organization aims to partner with KNUST to enhance their programs instead of competing with them. We are working to present authorities of the university an opportunity to gain a competitive edge over their competitors in terms of providing public(government subsidized) higher education. The challenge posed will be when authorities become uncooperative which will stunt the growth of project, a more reason why a pilot project has begun to train students in creating awareness on campus.
– Proposed impact and sustainability
We expect a change in the thinking of graduates from job seekers to job creators and an increase in the Small and Medium Scale Business creation, patents and publications within three years to add on to knowledge and also reduce the level of consumerism of technology products currently being experienced in the country.
Students and entrepreneurs should be able to fabricate at least 10 working chips in the second year of setting up the microelectronics center.
The value for us as an organization is being able to contribute meaningfully to a drastic decrease in graduate unemployment and also change mindsets of graduates looking up the government to provide jobs instead of being creators.
This will also be in fulfillment of our objectives at promoting entrepreneurship through skills training and also helping develop businesses.
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