Making Ghana an Academic Mecca: A vision worth pursuing
The Vision of an Academic Mecca
Ghana has cemented an enviable place in the political, social and economic emancipation of the African continent. Rich in history, culture and heritage, she remains a continental powerhouse with a global repute in many areas of national and international life. Beyond Dr. Kwame Nkrumah’s heroics in intensifying the struggle for Ghana’s independence and becoming her first President, Ghana has always been a leader in Pan-Africanism.
Recently, Ghana has taken steps in pushing the Black Renaissance agenda highlighted by the “Year of Return” in 2019 and the subsequent 10-year project dubbed “Beyond the Return” initiative (https://visitghana.com/beyond-the-return/). While these initiatives are commendable, I hold the opinion that they must transcend tourism and include all other important aspects of national life. As a higher education administrator and academic, I envision an educational goal - Transforming Ghana into an Academic Mecca.
An academic mecca in this article is defined as a sub-regional and continental hub for higher learning, research, and innovation. Is it not a good idea to encourage Africans and the descendants of enslaved Africans in the diaspora to study in the land of their ancestors? While becoming an academic mecca will focus on increasing enrolment in international students, it must make Ghana a popular destination of choice for students, researchers and academics from across Africa and beyond.
This will also require strengthening quality assurance mechanisms that foster a higher education landscape synonymous with excellence, knowledge generation, application and advancement, international collaborations, and good governance. These are possible and can be achieved with the right resources and leadership.
The Case for Ghana
Ghana has an advantage to become an academic mecca due to its stable democratic dispensation coupled with peace and security. Ghana’s strategic location in the West African sub-region makes it a great destination for tourism and education. With the English Language as the medium of instruction in Ghana’s universities, prospective students from Anglophone, Francophone and Lusophone Africa and the international market will fit in without much difficulty.
Moreover, Ghana has a strong higher education sector as most universities have faculty with international repute, administrative support staff, and fairly good infrastructure in some cases. Some universities in recent years have become top performers in the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings, a testament to their quality and pedigree in the global higher education landscape.
Government commitment to higher education is positive and a sign of goodwill to promote the sector. For instance, a recent pledge by President John Dramani Mahama to give 1,000 scholarships to ECOWAS students to study in Ghana is a positive sign for a country that is ready to become an academic mecca and feeds into the African Union’s Agenda 2063 (The Africa We Want).
Turning the Vision into Action
Realising this vision will require a convergence of government policy and strategic direction by individual universities.
1. Formulate national higher education internationalisation policy: Ghana must develop an internationalisation policy framework to provide guidelines for international students, joint degrees and credit transfers. Universities must also develop or reconsider their internationalisation strategies, develop academic programmes with a global outlook, and align national aspirations with global agendas. Academic programmes must reflect the Pan-African agenda while remaining nationally and globally relevant. Moreover, the national framework must simplify visa requirements, scholarships and student support for international students.
2. Strengthen institutional capacity to global standards: Universities must invest in critical infrastructure – modern lecture theatres, laboratories, computers, digital resources, and reliable internet. This must include the recruitment of faculty with international repute, pay competitive remuneration and set up sustainable research funding to foster meaningful local and global collaborations in teaching and research.
3. Promote research and innovation: An academic mecca must be at the forefront of leading cutting-edge research and innovation. Government must increase funding for research and innovation; and foster strategic partnerships between academia and industry. Universities must endeavour to disseminate research findings to the benefit of government and the private sector.
4. Government must upgrade or provide appropriate infrastructure in cities where universities are located: An academic mecca requires universities to operate in environments supported by necessary infrastructure, social amenities, affordable residential accommodation, shopping malls and recreational facilities. A reliable transportation system for instance is a prerequisite for an academic mecca and to attract international students.
5. Enhance academic quality assurance and accreditation: The Ghana Tertiary Education (GTEC) must enhance the accreditation regime and vigorously pursue the assurance of standards among all universities. GTEC must be resourced to play its regulatory role to engender national and global trust in our educational standards and outcomes. Moreover, GTEC must formulate a credit transfer system to guide prospective students who might want to move from a foreign university to Ghana.
6. Reconsider university fees: Universities must rationalise fees for international students. An academic mecca must have reasonable fees and scholarship opportunities for struggling students.
A Call to Action
Becoming a competitive academic mecca has the potential to revolutionise Ghana’s higher education sector. While there are inherent challenges, this vision can be achieved through collaboration, partnership, commitment and good leadership. I foresee a future in the higher education sector where students from all the regional blocks of Africa and beyond will choose Ghana as their preferred destination to access higher education and research. In doing so, we may inspire the next W.E.B. Du Bois to make the motherland their intellectual home.
The Ministry of Education and Vice-Chancellors of both public and private universities must take up this challenge and make it a reality.
The writer is a Deputy Registrar and urban planning academic with experience in university governance, quality assurance, strategic planning, and institutional process improvement.
Email: george.kwadwo.anane@gmail.com
* Opinions shared in this op-ed article are mine and do not represent those of my employers.
