Tertiary institutions advised to offer innovative programmes
The Minister of Food and Agriculture, Mr Fiifi Kwetey, has advised tertiary institutions to offer innovative programmes that are job-oriented and can adequately prepare students for the job market.
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According to him, most of the programmes being offered by universities and other tertiary institutions failed to provide the required knowledge and skills to equip students for the “real world.”
Speaking at the last edition of Campus Connect Programme at the Ashesi University College at Brekuso in the Eastern Region, Mr Kwetey said there was a disconnect between what was being taught in the universities and polytechnics and the reality on the ground, pointing out that, “the challenge we are facing is not lack of knowledgeable people but people who are so obsessed with survival, with a few who are passionate, to achieve their dreams.”
Previous editions were held at the University for Development Studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and the Accra Polytechnic.
The interactive event, an initiative of the Ministry of Education, was aimed at bringing governance on the doorstep of students in public and private tertiary institutions, and seeking their concerns and inputs into policies affecting them.
Participants
It brought together government officials who highlighted programmes and activities of their respective ministries and agencies and took turns to answer questions from students and staff of the university.
They included the Minister of Education, Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, and the Deputy in-charge of Tertiary Education, Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwah; Deputy
Minister of Health, Dr Victor A. Bampoe; Deputy Minister of Transport, Mrs Joyce Bawa-Mogtari, and Deputy Minister of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, Ms Dzifa Gomashie.
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The others were Executive Secretary of the National Accreditation Board, Mr Kwame Dattey, and the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre, Mrs Mawuena Trebarh.
Mr Kwetey said there were a number of people in Ghana today who had the potential to transform the society but were studying subjects in educational institutions that did not reflect what they were born to do.
“I mean we have so many people operating in areas where they have no business to be and until our institutions teach what students love, we will remain underdeveloped,” he said.
Buttressing his point, he said some people in charge of governance in the country, mainly technocrats and civil servants, often offered technical advice on issues they had acquired for many decades, but were not beneficial to the country’s development.
“There are so many technocrats who have remained in their jobs for years simply because they feel that is the only way. If it were possible to provide the means for all of them to have an assured remuneration and given an opportunity to go to where their hearts’ desires were, 90 per cent of civil servants would find new places.”
“But these are the people in charge of our country and one can appreciate why there is lack of creativity as most of the civil servants have no passion to find new things and the problem cuts across every sector,” he said.
As a solution, he advised students to have the courage to pursue their dreams to become more creative and profitable to the society.
Granting of charter
Prof. Opoku-Agyemang said a number of private universities had made huge strides in terms of academic and infrastructural development.
She, however, said the grant of a charter was an issue every nation took seriously, since it was a step to ensure uncompromised quality education, saying: “It is a gradual process that can be frustrating and we want private universities to bear with us.
"If a private university does not have a charter, it does not imply it is a bad institution.”
She assured the gathering that her ministry was dialoguing with all stakeholders to see how best to address issues related to the granting of charter to deserving private institutions.
Pay back loans
In a speech read on her behalf, the Chief Executive Officer of the Students Loan Trust Fund, Mrs Sheila Naa Boamah, said the scheme had disbursed loans to about 70,000 Ghanaian students, an indication that the government was keen to support students to pursue their dreams.
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“But we expect students who benefit from the scheme to pay their loans to sustain the scheme,” she stated.
The President of Ashesi University, Mr Patrick Awuah, was optimistic that despite the slow process in the acquisition of a charter by private universities to award their own certificate, the issue would be resolved, even if it would take 100 years.
In separate remarks, Mrs Bawa-Mogtari and Mrs Trebarh urged the students to strive for academic excellence and innovation to pursue their dreams and develop their potential.