The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has with urgency, reechoed the clarion call for all higher learning institutions, to assist the rapid transformation of African economies unto an industrialised, knowledge based, value added kind, by gearing their programmes and courses towards imparting the critical skills needed for the 21st Century.
President Akufo-Addo made the call at the 6th Joint Graduation Ceremony of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) on Wednesday, December 20, 2017.
Citing the World Economic Forum’s “Future Of Jobs” report for 2016, the President asked for qualities such as the ability to solve complex problems, critical thinking, effective people management, strong interpersonal, creativity, emotional intelligence, good judgment, effective negotiating, demonstrable cognitive flexibility skills as among those that are required for the work place.
“There is very limited room in today’s world for conventional thinking, so I urge tertiary institutions to embed these abilities needed for our country and the continent’s development”, he added.
The President also revealed that government will support KAIPTC to complete its training and academic block to guarantee additional training facilities for interested participants and to ensure the roll out of additional academic programmes for security practitioners and experts.
The Government of Ghana established the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) in 1998 and commissioned it in 2004, to build upon and share Ghana’s five decades of internationally acclaimed experience and competence in peace operations with other states in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) region and the rest of Africa.
KAIPTC, which is a unit under the Ghana Armed Forces, is affiliated to the University of Ghana and Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) and is one of the three (3) Peacekeeping Training Centres of Excellence mandated by ECOWAS to offer training in peacekeeping, Peace Support Operations, Conflict Management and Peace & Security Studies.
A few amongst many of its achievements are, being the first training institute in the world to run a programme in preventing and countering violent extremism, and help strengthen the capacity of 14 West African countries in disaster preparedness and management.
President Akufo-Addo also hinted of the African Union’s intention to recognise KAIPTC as one of the focal training centres in research, education and training in African peace and security.
To the 77 graduands who pursued courses in Executive Master of Arts in Conflict, Peace and Security (EMCPS), Master of Arts in Conflict, Peace and Security (MCPS), Master of Arts in Gender, Peace and Security (MGPS), the President admonished them to help fight under development, poverty, corruption, youth unemployment, inequality and prevent the relapse into violence in post conflict countries, wherever they find themselves on the African continent.
Constituting the Congregation to confer the various degrees on the graduands, the Rector of GIMPA, Professor Philip Ebo Bondzie-Simpson, described education as what equips and builds people’s capacity so that they can build society.
Mr Bill Rammel, Vice Chancellor/Chief Executive of the University of Bedfordshire, UK (another affiliate of KAIPTC), advocated the internationalisation of higher education, by nurturing a vibrant and diverse community that would enable people to transform their lives and reach their potential.
Present at the graduation ceremony were the Minister of Defence, Dominic Nitiwul, the Chief of the Defence Staff, Lt Gen OB Akwa, all the Service and formation Commanders, the Commandant of KAIPTC – Air Vice Marshall Griffith Evans and many others.
By Kofi Ampeah-Woode, Teshie, Accra