Dr. Adutwum blasts universities over ‘degrees to nowhere’

Former Education Minister Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum has criticised universities for offering programmes he believes leave graduates without employment opportunities.

Dr. Adutwum, who served as Minister for Education for four years during the second term of former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, made the remarks while speaking on the Konnected Minds podcast.

He argued that some academic programmes offered by tertiary institutions fail to equip students with skills that match the demands of the job market, thereby contributing to graduate unemployment.

Citing one example, Dr. Adutwum questioned the relevance of a Development Studies programme previously offered by the University for Development Studies, recalling a discussion he had with the institution during his tenure as Education Minister.

“There are some courses that are being offered and when I was Minister [for Education], I challenged universities about that. You don’t need anybody to offer a course like Development Studies,” he said.

According to him, the Vice-Chancellor of the university contacted him after his comments to report that a student had withdrawn from the programme.

“So the Vice Chancellor called me the day after and said, ‘Minister, because of the comment that you made, a student has just come to check out of Development Studies’ and I said it’s good for him. Because you know and I know that that course is not taking the student anywhere,” he stated.

Dr. Adutwum also criticised the Bachelor of Arts in Education (Non-Teaching) programme at the University of Ghana, arguing that many graduates struggle to secure employment after completing their studies.

“You go to the University of Ghana, and they have a course in education called B.A. in Education Non-Teaching. They come and do their national service and after national service, they are frustrated because nobody is hiring them. So university degree to nowhere. So you wonder why there is graduate unemployment,” he said.

The former minister stressed that universities must regularly review their academic programmes to ensure they remain relevant to the needs of industry and the economy.

His comments have added to the ongoing national conversation about graduate unemployment, with many education stakeholders advocating stronger alignment between university curricula and the skills required to improve graduate employability in Ghana.