The Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) has organised a practical simulation training in procurement processes for its students in Accra.
The training is to bridge the gap between academia and industry in the issues relating to procurement practices.
The Training witnessed several experts from the country’s public and private procurement industries, who gave practical presentations on the various levels of the procurement processes.
The programme dubbed: GIMPA-Ghana Institute of Procurement and Supply (GIPS) Moot Procurement was on the theme: ‘Empowering Students: Bridging the gap between academic training and profession.’
Professor Ebenezer Adaku, the Acting Dean of the GIMPA Business School, said the training was aimed at connecting academia with industry practice, help students practicalise theories learnt and project the school as a practical-based one.
He said it was to equipped students to contribute meaningfully to the development of the procurement sector.
‘Increasin
gly, the industry players are telling us that, when students graduate, they will have to retrain them and commit more resources in building their capacities to be able to relate more with the practice,’ he said.
He said this was not acceptable, hence their decision to forge meaningful partnerships with the professions to fully prepare these students to fit in when they graduate.
He said the Moot Procurement Training Programme organised for the students would help them gain practical knowledge and appreciate the nitty-gritties in procurement planning within organisations.
This, he explained, would help practicalise the knowledge in the real world of work.
‘We expect the participants to really appreciate procurement from a practical perspective so that, by the time they are out of school, it will not just be theory but how to get the work done for their employees,’ he added.
Mr Simon Annan, the President of GIPS, said the training was important because it would instill practical experiences often lacked by
students who graduate from the institution.
‘Students graduating from academia lack practical experiences so sometimes, when they are asked practical questions at job interviews, it is difficult for them to answer,’ he said.
Mr. Annan said the training would be used as a platform to share industry knowledge with students and make them get a feel of how procurement was done in the real world to prepare them mentally for the profession.
Mr Abraham Ablorh Mensah, the Chief Financial Officer of the Public Procurement Authority, said the training would help resolve challenges within the procurement industry such as the inability for many organisations to draw proper procurement plan.
Mr Emmanuel Adomako, a second-year Master’s Student at the GIMPA Business School, said the training would give him more in-depth knowledge on procurement processes particularly in the public sector.
Source: Ghana News Agency