Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum with GIPS leadership
Education Minister, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, is advocating for the introduction of procurement and strategic sourcing as an elective subject in the secondary education curriculum to give a firm foundation to students who might want to take on the profession.
He made the call when the leadership of the Ghana Institute of Procurement and Supply (GIPS) paid a courtesy call on him to submit the policy document and draft copy of the Procurement Practicing Bill for onward submission to Cabinet.
GIPS President, Simon Annan and Professor Douglas Boateng, an expert on strategic sourcing, lead the team during the visit.
Mr. Annan emphasized that the passage of the Procurement Practicing Bill is a game changer because it will provide standards, accountable procurement and regulations for practitioners to responsibly undertake their functions to support Act 663 as amended.
He emphasized that the study of procurement in second-cycle institutions will expose the citizenry to an inextricable link between procurement, industrialization, and sustainable job creation for long-term socio-economic development.
He indicated that graduates who aspire to study procurement and supply chain at the university level after senior high school will be well-equipped with the fundamental understanding of the practical application of procurement.
“It is a good decision because it supports the students to understand the real application of procurement or the linkage between procurement and sustainable development in the country,” he said.
According to the minister, the tenet of the procurement profession requires discipline, ethical standards, code of conduct and practical applications, which should be introduced to aspiring professionals at the early stages of their education.
“The fundamental aim of this proposal is to champion the integration of procurement as an elective discipline within Ghana’s second-cycle educational framework,” the minister added.
He, therefore, tasked the leadership of GIPS to work with the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA) and related parties to develop the right course content and methodologies for implementation.
By Samuel Boadi