Technical University issues: Focus on academic & intellectual development

The Ghana National Union of Polytechnic Students (GNUPS) has given the government an ultimatum – constitute governing councils for the technical universities or students will boycott lectures.

The Minority in Parliament has also jumped on government’s case regarding same. It is true that the absence of councils puts the institutions in operational disadvantage to a certain extent, but all stakeholders must focus on academic and intellectual development only, and as far as those issues affect the preparedness of the polytechnic/technical university student for industry.

When he was launching the technical university programme in September 2016 in Takoradi, the Former President John Mahama rightly explained that grammar education had helped the Ghanaian learner to an extent, but the dynamics of society required that we focus on competency-based education, which will equip the contemporary Ghanaian student for industry. As such all stakeholders must consider the issues of technical universities vis-à-vis that objective.

The fact that GNUPS is bargaining with lectures indicates that the absence of the councils has not halted the main business of the institutions, teaching and learning. Academic boards are the ultimate bodies on the campuses; they have a high level of autonomy, though some decisions must be ratified by the councils.

Additionally, the interim status of the various administrative machineries offers them the mandate to operate to a large extent. The legitimacy of the academic boards and their management is evidenced by the fact that activities for the 2017/2018 academic year have begun, even without the governing councils’ ratification. Therefore, we must focus on the obstacles to the smooth running of the academic calendar.

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A year into the conversion, both Minority and GNUPS must question our preparedness for the competency-based curriculum, the ultimate goal of the conversion. Elsewhere, institutions are investing in learners through small class numbers; ideally a teacher:student ratio of 1:15 up to 1:25, which allows a generous room for one-on-one teacher-student interaction and student nurturing.

The small numbers enable teachers to give appreciable attention to students, in and out of the classroom. In our polytechnic and technical university campuses, large class numbers have been a major obstacle to competency-based education; hitherto, it was impossible for one teacher to interact frequently with 60, 70, 80, 100 or even 120 students within the semester. Even systematic tutorials were hardly possible in such situations. Most teachers tried to work through group activities, which do not completely augur well for competency training.

A year after the conversion, has the situation changed? The Minority and GNUPS should pursue that question. Are current ratios ideal for competency-based training? While doing that, they should impress upon the institutions to commence tracer studies in order to determine what percentage of polytechnic graduates are unemployed or are employed in areas completely irrelevant to their study areas. Opinions of industry should be sought regarding the quality of materials polytechnic institutions have been turning out over the years.

One reason for GNUPS’ appreciation for the change in status is that they become university graduates, instead of polytechnic graduates. However, to a very large extent, the Ghanaian employer has a very unsophisticated perception of the polytechnic student, largely through ignorance. To what extent has that perception been reversed by the conversion? Is it the conversion or competency which comes through acquisition and application of dynamic knowledge, which will change societal and industrial perception?

Globally, even traditional universities are forging for industrial experience for teachers and learners in order to address the challenge of employment mismatch. What is the trend on our polytechnic and technical university campuses? How often do teachers get exposed to the realities of industry through attachment? What is the currency of the knowledge imparted by teachers who hardly get industrial exposure?  What is the ratio of theory:practice in the classrooms? Does GNUPS even know? Currently, hands-on-training is on downward trend, and that is a major concern.

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What is the situation with monitoring and evaluation of the various training activities engaged in by the institutions? How effectively does quality assurance feature in the teaching and learning processes? What effective guidance and counselling systems are featured to nurture students’ potential, address their fears and complexes and make them assertive individuals? What premium do the institutions place on real knowledge acquisition? These are some of the pertinent questions that make or break tertiary institutions. Has technical university status helped to address some of these issues for the institutions? The GNUPS and the Minority should be interested.

Merely constituting governing councils will not automatically address all the impediments. Indeed, it is not just a matter of constituting governing council; they must be real savvy about the global technical university concept and how the nation can localise the existing ones to address community and national needs? We do not need rubber stamp councils; we need proactive agencies that can offer current dynamic academic and professional suggestions to enhance competency-based training. Above all, the governing councils must have the knowledge to identify current unprofessional/unacademic practices, possess the guts to change such for best practices.

So come again, Minority in Parliament, GNUPS. It is not time for ultimatum; it is time to strive for quality competency-based education and training. Let us collaborate with the government to champion the cause of quality.

The writer is a Lecturer, Takoradi Technical University, Takoradi.