Manasseh Azure Awuni, an Investigative journalist, has tackled former Minister of Education Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum following his recent claims about some university courses in Ghana.
Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum has described some university courses in Ghana as useless, as they do not adequately prepare students for the job market.
Dr Adutwum raised concerns about the relevance of certain university programmes in Ghana.
The former Education Minister criticised the BA in Education (Non-Teaching) programme at the University of Ghana, arguing that graduates often struggle to find employment after completing national service.
Speaking recently on the Konnected Minds podcast, Dr Adutwum stated, “There are some courses that are being offered. When I was the minister, I challenged universities about that. And I spoke about how we don’t need anybody to offer courses called Development Studies, and it was being offered at UDS”.
“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. You know, and I know that course is not taking the student anywhere.
He further added, “You go to the University of Ghana, and they have a course in education that they call BA in Education Non-Teaching. They come and do their national service, and after national service, they are frustrated because nobody is hiring them”.
Dr Adutwum further described such programmes as leading to what he called a “university degree to nowhere”.
He added that the trend raises broader concerns about graduate unemployment in the country.
Manasseh Azure, reacting to Dr Adutwum’s comments, argued that the problem is not so much about the ‘useless’ courses but has more to do with the not-so-useful leaders, if useless leaders might be considered too harsh.
Parts of Manasseh Azure’s Facebook post shared on Sunday, July 5, 2026 read, “Dr Adutwum, who wants to be president, should not blame university courses for the hordes of unemployable graduates that teem the nation.
The problem is not so much about the “useless” courses. It has more to do with the not-so-useful leaders, if useless leaders might be considered too harsh.
Our education system, which Dr Adutwum presided over, is poorly funded and poorly managed. The result? Poorly trained minds, barely literate enough to look for jobs. The outliers and sharp ones don’t get opportunities to put their talent and knowledge to good use in Ghana.
Dr Adutwum claims we need more engineers, but what opportunities have been created for our engineers to thrive in Ghana? Our brilliant engineers, who graduate from KNUST and other universities, are doing great things outside Ghana. In the United States and elsewhere, where strong leadership provides for their expertise, Ghana’s engineers are building world-class systems, while our leaders would rather award shady contracts to businesses like SML and others.
(Last year, I made a post on Ghana’s engineers doing great things in the United States.)
Even our medical doctors are fleeing in droves.
In a country where development is initiated with the same shabbiness that Agradaa runs her church, one wonders how a former education minister who wants to be president can think that Development Studies is a useless course.
In this country, we berate those who study fine arts, philosophy, and the classics. Students of the School of Performing Arts at the University of Ghana have been described as studying “Dondology” because we claim they go to learn how to play the “dondo.”
Elsewhere, people in the arts are among the richest.
Besides, we need thinkers. A continent that cannot boast of many philosophers whose ideas rule the world in leadership and science, must not think that education is all about producing for the job market.
The very idea that a course must prepare a student for employment is problematic. Elsewhere, education prepares students not only to be employed but also to create employment opportunities. With the right education, students must aim to START SOMETHING after leaving school”.
See the post below:
