Koforidua, April 8, GNA - Mr Samuel Okae Adjei, Vice Rector of the Koforidua Polytechnic, on Wednesday urged students to use the knowledge acquired whiles in school to create businesses instead of relying on the government for employment. He said the main objective of establishing polytechnic education in Ghana was to train people who could be self-employed after school to reduce the unemployment rate.

"But the situation over the years has been different because every body that completes school rather expects to be employed in the formal sector which has brought about the high rate of unemployment," he said. The vice rector made the call at a seminar in Koforidua to sensitize the students on how to create jobs and be self-employed after school to reduce the unemployment rate in the country. The seminar was organized by the Koforidua chapter of the Alliance for Youth of Ghana (AYG), a youth organization that champions the cause of students and youth, in collaboration with the office of the vice rector of the polytechnic.

Mr Okae-Adjei urged the students to use the knowledge acquired to do something profitable for people to understand the importance of polytechnic education. Mr Charles Sam, Chief Executive Officer of Golden Future Promotions, said the economic difficulties Ghana had been facing since independence was as a result of the inability of the people to establish industries. He said it was unfortunate that all the nations that started with Ghana were now economically independent because of industrialization whiles Ghana continued to import everything 52 years after independence including tooth pick. Mr Sam said governments would continue to come out with good policies and programmes aimed at solving economic problems but if entrepreneurs were not trained to go into industrialization such policies and programmes would not yield any positive results.