Diversify, introduce new programmes;Tertiary institutions urged

Local private tertiary institutions have been advised by the Chairman of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), Prof. Kwesi Botchway, to diversify their programmes and introduce new ones that will help address problems on the labour front.

He said for those tertiary institutions to be sustainable, they needed to avoid what he described as “the duplication of academic programmes and run alternative programmes that will establish their areas of experience and training in support of national development”.

Diversification

“Despite the increase in private universities in the country, there is no diversification and differentiation in the courses offered. All they do is to copy what the established public universities are offering,” he told the convocation at the four-day fifth Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) Summer School in Kumasi.

The programme is on the theme: “Sustainable development of tertiary institutions in Ghana amidst economic and security challenges”.
Prof. Botchway said successful development called for a shared responsibility between the state and the private sector in achieving the country’s specific needs, stressing that cost-sharing in attaining sustainable tertiary education must, however, be transparent and predictable to facilitate long-term planning.

He stated that it should be possible for universities to have some level of autonomy over their locally generated funds, stressing, “such internally generated funds should serve as buffer for the universities which they could fall on during difficult times.”

Vice-Chancellor

The Vice-Chancellor of the KNUST, Prof. William Otoo-Ellis, said changes at the university called for a different approach to doing things, to lead to innovations in thinking, asking questions, brainstorming and re-strategising for the institution to live up to its core mandate of teaching, researching and performing social and corporate responsibilities.

He said the challenges confronting the university could be addressed if lecturers would be committed to their cause.