President Akufo-Addo has called on academia to tailor their course outlines to the requirement of industry.

According to the President, such a practice will by default engender productivity and reduce unemployment since industry will be able to secure expert hands to handle production.

“We have to tailor the curriculum to skills development and job learning based on current industrial needs at the enterprise level and job market. The figures that I have seen suggest that the size of the workforce in our country is about 13 million people and there are less than two million in formal work,” the President noted when he addressed this year’s May Day parade at the Black Star Square in Accra Monday.

He continued: “Unfortunately, much of our preoccupation seems to be with this small group in the formal sector. It is time for us all to bring more of our people into the formal sector. It will be, indeed, in everybody’s interest to do so.

“The first order of business therefore must be to get our economy out of the doldrums and to create the atmosphere for our entrepreneurs to bring on the jobs.

“There are things the government must do and there are things the citizens as a whole and organized labour in particular must do. We in government have set about our task with zeal. Our first budget, the Asempa Budget, has set out clearly the road map to bring prosperity to Ghana.

“We have taken the important steps to create an enabling environment for the private sector to flourish and create jobs. We have reduced taxes, including taxes on kayayei, inflation is on the decline, interest rates are on the decline, and [there’s] relative stability of the exchange rate.”