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…charges universities to focus on solving societal problems
Former President Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has charged African universities to always seek to produce graduates that would be well-equipped to address the social and economic needs of society.
He also called on tertiary education planners in Africa to devise means of meaningfully engaging businesses with a view to establishing academia-industry partnerships that would enhance research and create avenues for employment and jobs.
He stated this on Thursday in Kampala during his formal inauguration as the third Chancellor of Cavendish University Uganda, following in the footsteps of two former Presidents Benjamin Mkapa and Dr Kenneth Kaunda.
He said: “We should ensure that the university education we offer intersects and engages with the social and economic challenges within the national, regional, continental, and global contexts.”
On the need for strategic industry-academia relations, Dr Jonnathan noted: “Our task will be to engage the industry across the regions and the continent with a view to creating academia-industry partnerships.
“This will work better if the academia supports the industry with research to strengthen production, distribution, and marketing while industry supports the university with research funding, internship placement opportunities for students and the offer of industry practitioners to support teaching and learning with the current business trends and hands-on experience.”
Making a case for more youths to be able to access tertiary education, Dr Jonathan said: “We need to focus on removing barriers to accessing higher education for much African youth who are gifted but disadvantaged economically. The sponsorship by governments is limited to their own revenue bases and is available mainly in public education institutions.
“There is the need to secure scholarships for the bright but deprived youth, even if it means connecting them to loan schemes, where they can pay it off, over a period of time even after graduation.”
He also urged political leaders to leverage Africa’s abundant human resources and lead innovations that will add value to the continent’s natural resources and primary produce. “In this regard, priority should be given to the establishment of more cottage industries to process these products in order to create more wealth and jobs for the people”, he said.
The Chancellor further charged the graduands to deploy the knowledge they acquired towards solving societal problems.
He said: “As you celebrate this moment of glory, I charge all of you who have come this far, to realize that with this achievement comes the responsibility to deploy the market-driven training you have received at CUU to solving Africa’s problems and making a considerable contribution to the growth of your professions.
“I should also remind you that we live in a rapidly changing world which requires you to constantly retrain yourself, pursue new knowledge and skills in order to remain relevant and make society better.
“I also urge you to be purposeful in building relationships, impacting people around you positively, and building a community of reformers and change agents. And in doing so, be resolute in discharging leadership responsibilities and pay more attention to how society is governed. For in good leadership lies the fate of humanity and survival of individuals, professions and the society.”
Dr Jonathan described Cavendish University as a leading international university in the country with a very diverse student population from over 25 countries. “This offers students a unique multi-cultural experience and wide connections that are required in the current situation where the world has become a global village.”
