Camfed Ghana Organises Research Seminar and Learning Summit

Camfed Ghana on Tuesday organized a research seminar to explore opportunities for effective transition support in the education system.

The seminar, organised under the MasterCard Foundation Scholars Program Annual Learning summit, was to also explore the implications of research findings for new policies and practices that would promote successful progression and transition of students within and beyond the education system, hence the theme for seminar: "Preparing Students for Employment and Entrepreneurship: What Works?"

Welcoming participants to summit, Executive Director, Camfed Ghana, Mrs. Dolores Dickson, said as a reflective organization, Camfed Ghana strived to design and implement programs based on empirical data resulting from rigorous primary research.

She said Camfed Ghana, in partnership with Master Card Foundation, was implementing a transition program titled, "Enable young women transition from school to entrepreneurship, further study and transformative leadership in Ghana."

According to her, Camfed Ghana, and The Master Card Foundation, shared one belief that further education, employment and entrepreneurship were the most viable pathways to economic security of young people.

The seminar, therefore, would go further to discuss research evidence on the support systems and programs that affected students' ability to successfully progress through school and transitions successfully into gainful employment or entrepreneurship, she added.

Mrs Dickson stressed that research evidence within sub-Saharan Africa and the Ghanaian context showed that inadequate school support and curricula design sometimes inhibit students' ability to access employment opportunities or go into entrepreneurship ventures after graduation.

For his part, Prof. Felix Asante, Director of Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER), University of Ghana, Legon, said students needed to know that managerial skills could be taught in schools, however, entrepreneurial spirit must be developed by students themselves in order to prepare for the job market.

In a presentation, Mrs Joana A. Opare, a Consultant, indicated that socio-economic backgrounds, especially educational and income levels had significant influences on children's educational attainment and career aspirations.

She was of the view that parental influences on children's aspirations and life choices were not strongly gendered, adding that it was important to develop programmes that address gender sensitivity in parental upbringing of children.

Source: ISD (Aliyah Bayali)

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