By Gloria Anderson
A Professor of Education and Development, Professor Ato Essuman, has called on leadership and management of higher education institutions to restructure investing programmes to meet current entrepreneurial and technical needs.
Professor Ato Essuman called for more strategic programmes in universities to build the country’s technical workforce deficit.
Over the past four decades, there has been growing worldwide demand for higher education. This is due to its recognised role in knowledge acquisition in promoting economic and social development and to the desire for lifelong learning. However, in Ghana, the tertiary education landscape is beset with challenges for both private and public universities.
Speaking at the Methodist University Ghana, Public Lectures series, Professor Ato Essuman, said that though private universities continue to support government’s quest to provide treasury education for that role, there is the need for private universities to be empowered and resourced to do more.
“Must we have all these relative owners of these institutions? They are not able to inject more capital, so you must think of doing something different. See the need to come together and have a voice, remove the capital that they require, and engage government.”
Currently, there are over 100 private universities to complement the 15 national public universities in the country; however, the curricula at some of these universities make it difficult for students to rethink outside the box.
Professor Essuman called for a more proactive approach to education and a change in curricula where skills acquisition is permanent.
“Ghana needs I used to have skills. Can we think of city bets where the government of Ghana and the donors are willing to fund? This shows that we’re moving into other areas. This is just an example that I get, but I think when they sit down and think, you can come up with something.”
Professor Ato Essuman, who is also the 20th chairman of the West African Examinations Council, entreated students at both the junior and Senior High School levels not to rely on fake news and social media of foreign materials during examinations but rather study to show themselves approved of their years in school.
The lecture series forms part of the monthly lectures by the Methodist University, Ghana to push university education higher in the country.
