Education

…soon to introduce Artificial Intelligence course to train students to invent

The Koforidua Technical University (KTU) is to introduce Artificial Intelligence (AI), a computer theory course that would seek to train students on how to invent smart gadgets to help solve societal challenges in the country.

AI is a theory and development of computer systems or smart machines that would perform tasks normally requiring human intelligence.

The Vice Chancellor of KTU, Professor David Kofi Essumang, who revealed this in an interview with the Ghanaian Times during a matriculation ceremony organised by the school said the introduction of AI would make students innovative and employable.

He explained further that most smart phones and gadgets had some level of intelligence in them, adding that students in the technical universities were capable of producing these gadgets that were used by many and imported from outside the country.

Professor Essumang noted AI theories were inevitable technologies that had come to stay in this modern era used to solve most challenges societies were facing, hence the need for the university to equip its students in that direction.

“We are going to go into artificial intelligence and that alone if properly harnessed can solve most of our problems,” he said adding, that if the technical universities were able to equip their students with the theory they would be self-employed.

He added that industries could also approach students who would be able to produce smart gadgets for sale.

Speaking about bridging the gap between academia and industry, Professor Essumang hinted that both have to understand their roles and perform them accordingly.

“Industries and Ghanaians have to understand that Technical Universities are built to solve societal problems and so they should approach us with their problems so we can help them solve it.”

He added that there was also the need for technical universities to train their students with an industrial touch and make course more practical to enable them to perform when they are employed into the industry.

That, according to him, would help the country to use its youth to solve the many challenges faced in the country today.

 The Director for Human Resource at the Ghana Education Service (GES) and member of the Governing Council of KTU, Mrs Adjoa Van Vicker, stated that according to a data at the country’s Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations only 10 per cent of graduates gained employment in the first year after completing school, while it took 10 years for a batch of university graduates to be absorbed into the world of work.

She added that the situation was worrying, blaming it on lack of employable skills of most graduates as the country’s educational system had become more theoretical than practical

Mrs Van Vicker noted that fortunately, Technical Vocational Education Training (TVET) had become very crucial to solving the unemployment challenges in the country and therefore urged the technical universities to renew their commitment to which they were set up and train their students to be technologically innovative for the benefit of the country. 

FROM AMA TEKYIWAA AMPADU AGYEMAN, KOFORIDUA

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