By Amin Kef Sesay
What in essence President Bio told the Court of the new Eastern Technical College in Kenema city last weekend was that in the 21st century, our Universities must shift to playing a new role as development partners in order to legitimize their existence, increase their relevance, boost their links to society, the economy and leverage development.
In other words, universities must move from status symbols to instruments of national development.
In its link to development, our universities should play a partnership role that is advisory, involving researching and disseminating information to Government and society and producing graduates with relevant skills, knowledge and the right disposition to make meaningful contributions to society and the economy.
This redefined role requires our universities and colleges to perform some specific functions.
- Identifying societal needs and aspirations – Our universities must be able to assess and identify the political, economic and social needs and aspirations of the societies in which they are embedded. Such information should be used for three main purposes: (1) designing academic courses and programs; (2) conducting empirical research; (3) sharing information with Government and other development institutions.
Once the process of assessment has been appropriately performed, certain academic programs and courses should be eliminated as irrelevant and new ones developed to replace them.
In accordance with this function, academic courses and programs imported from outside must be carefully tweaked and adapted into an African social, political and economic environment. Along which line, this is what President Bio said in Kenema:
In November 2020, at the Milton Margai College of Education and Technology, I argued that by investing in workforce development and equipping our labour force with the requisite skillset, we could rapidly unlock the great potential of this nation.
I have also argued that practice-oriented technical training and entrepreneurship are immeasurably more valuable and relevant to national development than a classical education as we have known it since 1827.
The “Pappay you borbordaeya” culture where university graduates scramble for scanty public sector jobs must be replaced with a new “can-do” entrepreneurial and innovation mindset. That is the mindset that will create jobs, create wealth, and grow the economy of this nation. We need innovators, highly trained teachers, nurses and healthcare personnel, skilled technicians, and persons with skill sets who will transform the economy of this nation.
At this new University, I am informed that there will be a Faculty of Business Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Studies; a Faculty of Vocational and Skills Development Studies; a Faculty of Pure and Applied Sciences; a Faculty of Engineering and Innovation; a Faculty of Development Agriculture and Natural Resource Management, a Faculty of Health Sciences and Disaster Management Studies, and last and definitely not least, a Faculty of Education.
The scope covers translational sciences and innovation, healthcare service training and delivery, engineering, agriculture and agribusiness, natural resource management, disaster management, entrepreneurship, and teacher training and development.
This is education that develops human capital, creates and drives a new kind of knowledge-based economy, and nurtures opportunity and creates private sector jobs. Ours is a growing economy with great potential and only well-trained people can drive that development. In a week, I will be at COP26 to discuss how we can contend with climate change, build resilience, and create a green economy. That new economy requires new skill sets. Those skill sets can be quickly developed within a technical university.
