The Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) has called on stakeholders to put in place measures for a well-structured internship, apprenticeship and mentorship programme for tertiary institutions.

According to the Vice-President of the AGI, Mr Humphrey Ayim-Darkeh, internship, apprenticeship and mentorship programme must be made part of the tertiary education curricula, to equip students with the requisite skills for the job market after graduation.

Speaking to Class News about graduate unemployment in the country, he said: “Mentorship, internship and apprenticeship aspect is to complement the effort of the universities and allied institutions into entrepreneurship training.

“It’s OK and good to have a formal training in the classroom, however, we did mention that as far as that is OK and correct, the adequacy section of it is that you need to have an experiential knowledge. Getting the experiential knowledge is on the field and that is where we are advocating that the issue of internship, apprenticeship, mentorship, should be structured by these institutions, make it part of the curriculum, make it part of the tenure of the individual’s engagement with the university.

“These various institutions on their own will structure such arrangements with the private sector and other related institutions and then beyond that. We need to engage policymakers and government and once the institutions negotiate their position very well, they might be lucky to get a tax rebate from government.”