The conference is on the theme "Shaping the Future of the Higher Education :Reshape, Retool, Rebuild". Principal for the University, Prof. Akwasi Asabere-Ameyaw, in his keynote address said  higher education has not changed its basic structure and delivery model because it has not been forced to do so. It has avoided addressing the fundamental issues of how academic programmes and institutions must be transformed to serve the changing education needs of a knowledge economy.

He added that failure to address the challenges facing higher education has triggered a productivity crisis and, in order to meet these challenges, there is the need for rethinking established practices and finding new and flexible ways to improve educational outcomes, even as most universities face tight budgets and shrinking state support.

He said that many of the most promising initiatives were coming from outside education establishments. "Armed with new ideas and the power of internet-based technologies, these education entrepreneurs are willing to challenge the status quo to prove that education can be affordable, reach more people and enable students to learn faster and at higher levels."

Prof Asabere-Ameyaw pointed out that recent studies raise questions on the employability of skills being taught in universities and the presence of a sizeable gap between employer needs and employee skills.

He urged private and public universities and colleges to invest heavily in academic quality and measures to ensure students acquire the skills valued by employers. He also noted that regulations and incentives should be crafted to open the way for the most dynamic innovations while rendering the true costs, risks and potential benefits as transparent as possible for prospective students.

In an interview with the media, Prof Asabere-Ameyaw said that "we need to identify higher education institutions that are being innovative and are at the forefront of improving the student learning experience and work with them. If we think the solutions to our higher education problems reside in a single university, I think  we are mistaken. We need to work with the public and private universities to look at what are the exciting and innovative things they are doing, how can we give our students experiences that are as innovative as those students in other institutions.

He said that in Ghana and Africa, there is not enough collaboration between universities adding that it is an area that needs a lot of emphasis. He called for a form of association among universities in Africa to consider forms of funding for local students.

In terms of development, he said we are the center of the world and not the Global North, therefore students interested in the study of development should study within Africa and urged institution heads to make their universities centers of excellence.

The Director of the Institute of Education and Entrepreneurship and Conference Director, Prof Ato Essuman, said that the theme for the conference befittingly

describes the current educational landscape over the past three decades which has seen a number of challenges.

He called for new initiatives that will help steer our educational systems in a new direction to ensure they have relevance and purpose.

The conference will look into four key areas; Building and sustaining research profile in academia, Writing a winning grant proposal, Technology-enhanced teaching and learning and Navigating the doctoral journey.

He said it will also offer the oppourtunity for participants to learn from other country perspectives.

Speaking to BusinessGhana, Professor Essuman said MUCG's activities should be relevant and must have purpose hence the decision to organise these

conferences.

The  first two conferences centered on topics such as technology, entrepreneurship and business environment. The university therefore decided that it is time to reshape tertiary education in Ghana hence the theme.

"There is the need to look at teachers/lecturers who have been trained over forty years ago and are still teaching with that mindset. There is the need for professional development for them in order to allow them provide value added education. These days there is competition in the job market  and there is the need to demonstrate that they can add value to the employers objectives" he said.

The aim of MUCG thus, is to close the deficit between teaching and what employers require. The conference, he said, will also offer the oppourtunity for people who have done various forms of reasearch to present what they have done.

Prof Essuman said it was easier in the past to travel out of the country and attend conferences but this is not the case in recent times due to cost constraints. "MUCG has, therefore, decided to create the international scene in Ghana by maintaining the same standards by inviting people from Europe, Asia and other places.

The INCEDI was attended by Professor Albert Kwame-Akyeampong, Professor of International and Development at the Centre for International Education, University of Sussex, Dr Joshua Mallet,  Consultant Director at the Centre for National Distance Learning and Open Schooling, Ministry of Education;

Nana Professor Osei Darkwa, former President of the Ghana Technology University College; Professor Tristan McCowan of the Institute of Education, University College of London and Dr Eric Daniel Ananga, a consultant and lecturer at the University of Education Winneba.