A Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Mines and Technology, UMaT, Anthony Simons, has called on the government to immediately consider making ICT a core subject at both the Basic and Senior High school levels of education to help nurture the required engineers needed for Ghana to benefit from the 5th Industrial Revolution.

Delivering his Inaugural Lecture on Friday, July 11 on the theme, “A Hexagonal Partnership Imperative for Cultivating Future-Ready Mechanical Engineers in Ghana for the Fifth Industrial Revolution and Beyond”, at the UMaT in Tarkwa, Prof. Simons said the current less premium put on ICT at Basic and Secondary levels will make Ghanaian graduates less competitive in the 5th Industrial Revolution.

“We need to embrace the new emerging technologies of the 4th and 5th Industrial Revolutions, such as the internet of things, digital twin, smart systems, inclusion and sustainability. So let’s educate people to occupy the new emerging areas, so that even if one is not good in a certain area, because he or she has ICT skills, the person will have a job to do and the call or the very important thing we need to do as a country is to introduce ICT as a core subject at both the BECE and SHS levels. When that is done and the students complete, then we are good to go,” he urged.

While touching on the Imperative for Cultivating Future-Ready Mechanical Engineers in Ghana for the Fifth Industrial Revolution and Beyond, Prof. Anthony Simons said government paying salaries without retooling institutions with modern engineering equipment and software leaves Ghana’s education system nowhere.

“What we must understand is that engineering is very expensive. We need to equip the institutions with modern laboratories and workshops. If we only pay salaries without retooling the laboratories, then we are not going anywhere. So, the government must turn its attention to retooling and helping to put mechanical engineering on its feet,” he added.

He further pointed out that the success and sustainability of the government’s 24-hour economy will heavily depend on the graduates’ skills with modern technologies.

“When we as a country can do that, then we will achieve the 25-hour economy, which will also propel Ghana beyond aid. So, the government should invest. We need stable electricity, internet connectivity, good labs,’’ he noted.

While acknowledging that some progress has been made with industry-academia relations, Professor Anthony Simons called for better access for students to gain hands-on industry training.