Technology guarantees us share of future jobs – Kenneth Ashigbey

The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications , Ing. Kenneth Ashigbey has stressed the need for a more rigorous introduction of technology-based programmes in Ghanaian schools.

He says equipping students with technological skills will guarantee that they have a share in jobs set to dominate the future – technology, health care and other jobs that are underpinned by technology.

Ing. Ashigbey who was addressing the 88th Speech and Prize-giving Day of the St Augustine’s College in Cape Coast, said Ghana’s competitive advantage is not in gold or timber, but in the capacity and ability of the youth to be a part of and harness the potentials that technology offers.

The anniversary celebration was on the theme: “The role of technology in preparing students for the future global economy.”

Emphasizing the need for a paradigm shift to infuse a critical dose of technology and entrepreneurial courses in Ghanaian educational curricula so that students graduate with jobs, entrepreneurial skills or at least have a place in the job market, Ing. Ashigbey lamented that we appear to be steeped in our old ways of training students for dying jobs.

“Yes some jobs will die and others will be created. Are we training them only for those jobs that will die? The current framework points to that and the reason for the paradigm shift,” he said, explaining that technology is the differentiator but whose pace is only going to accelerate.

Ing. Ashigbey urged authorities of the St Augustine’s College to begin teaching students Coding, saying it will “prepare them for the digital world that will be driven by Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Data Analytics, etc.”

He said Artificial Intelligence alone is estimated to add over 12 trillion dollars to global GDP, and he therefore invited old students of the College, (Apsunians) to work with the school authorities to teach the students Coding and help develop a digital strategy for the school.

“Coding and entrepreneurship should be compulsory subjects that all students should study and master. Yes it should start from here and now,” he said.

He also said that students do not need to leave school before starting their businesses and enumerated a number of things to get them started while in school.

Among others, he said they should;

• Focus on solving & providing solutions to society’s challenges
• Build business models to support them to turn it to cash
• Learn how to work in teams
• Learn to document all you do, seek legal advice
• Most importantly, no matter what you study, you need to learn coding

He also called on the Ghana Education Service (GES), to reconsider its refusal to allow Senior High School students to use mobile phones, saying its adaptability for negative application should not prevent us from benefiting from the great advantage it presents.

“We need to take another look at the GES policy that does not allow students to use phones in school. We need to bear in mind that mobile technology and digitization are defining the now and the future. Like any tool, it can be used for good as well as for evil. The difference between us and the communities making progress is how they can harness these tools for the benefit of their students and their countries.”

“That is why I support the statement made by the Hon. Minister of Communications, Mrs. Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, when she said in October 2017, that her ministry was engaging the Ghana Education Service (GES) to re-visit its decision on the ban of mobile phone use among second-cycle students across the country. The ministry, in collaboration with its stakeholders, is in the process of providing mobile phones installed with school syllabus and other learning materials to students to enable them do away with carrying large notebooks and textbooks to school.”

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