The President, His Excellency John Dramani Mahama has acknowledged that prospecting at the public sector are the narrowest and that graduates must explore the private and the informal sectors for jobs.
Speaking at the maiden congregation of the University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR) in Sunyani, President Mahama advised graduates to keep their eyes on opportunities in both the private and informal sectors, instead of the public sector.
He explained that out of the 26 million Ghanaians, only 600,000 people are employed in the public sector, and this means that majority of jobs created are in the private and the informal sectors
“As graduates, you will be narrowing your prospects to aim at coming out to work in the public sector because only 600,000 are on the public sector payroll of the government,” he said.
President Mahama advised the graduates to add value to their certificates to become asset to prospective employers and the nation as well.
The President noted that as a special University established to produce experts on Technology, Energy and Natural resources, it behooves on UENR to explore alternative sources of power to enhance Ghana’s energy capacity.
According to President Mahama, UENR is expected to take a proactive role in researching into some of the challenges in the renewable energy resources and information on energy conservation, that have the potential to reduce household reliance on the national grid.
He assured of the government’s readiness to support the UENR in assisting in the exploration of how to harness the variety of energy resource such as solar, biomass and wind, and also explore alternative bio fuels, including nuclear energy, towards achieving sustainability and building the nation’s energy capacity.
President Mahama further noted that to bridge the gap between research and industries, universities must provide the intellectual and technological know-how needed to move the economy of the country.
He said plans have been instituted to make the three university campuses of the University of Development Studies (UDS) in the three Northern regions being Upper East, Upper West and Northern region each a fully-fledged university to help in bridging the gap between Research and Industries. In all a total of 174 graduates were awarded bachelor degrees, out of which six had first class.
