Innovation, entrepreneurship needed in educational pursuit

The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), Mrs Mawuena Trebarh, has noted that innovation and entrepreneurship could help improve the pursuit of education.

She therefore called for a shift in mindset, for education to provide a mix of creativity, experiential learning and skill building.

Mrs Trebarh said this in a speech read on her behalf at the first Education Camp Conference held in Koforidua.

The conference which was organised by NOVAN Education and Training, a non-governmental organisation, brought educationists together to discuss issues about education challenges as well as successes and it was on the topic: "Access to quality education in Eastern Region."

Mrs Trebarh said, for Ghana to attract high-value and good investment return into the economy, it is critical to find a way of investing in the requisite manpower in order to match investors' vision and ideas, especially in joint venture partnerships.

She noted that, education in primary and secondary levels should be aimed at developing competencies such as creativity, initiative, inventiveness and personal qualities that are necessary to adapt to the changing world.

Mrs Trebarh called for the strengthening of collaboration between private and government training institutions and industry to shape the current and future skills requirements and demands of industry for all sectors of the economy.

She said as part of government's policy to increase the supply and improve the quality of entrepreneurial management skills in all sectors of the economy, a National Entrepreneurship Seminar was organised by her outfit in March last year to ensure the building of a more entrepreneurial economy.

She said GIPC also embarked on an annual nationwide investment outreach program aimed at meeting the local content requirements of the Centre's investment promotion mandate as well as to provide a platform to identify and collate domestic data on various investment projects and opportunities.

Very Reverend Abraham Osei Donkor, Headmaster of Ghana Senior High School Koforidua, a participant, called on stakeholders to plan consistently to ensure that, resources and infrastructure are delivered to the right places to achieve quality education.

He said the program has opened many sources for educators to link up, to seek for support instead of relying solely on central government.

He expressed the need for a national educational policy to enhance the status of the sector.