Polytechnics are being converted into technical universities because some rectors have lobbied the government to that end, so they could be elevated to professors and vice chancellors, Prof Ernest Aryeetey, Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana, has said.
All ten polytechnics in the ten regions of the country are being converted in phases. Work on the first six has started amidst a raft of controversy. At the 23rd National Delegates Congress of the Ghana National Union of Polytechnics in Takoradi in September last year, Deputy Minister in charge of Tertiary Education, Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa said: “This is not a re-branding exercise being undertaken by the Ministry, or an action to mimic the traditional universities, but a move to ensure hands down training and skills acquisition to meet the current needs of industry as a measure to accelerate the country’s economic growth”.
According to him, the government is “refocusing, evaluating and re-strategising polytechnic education” to build a strong industrial base for development.
However, Prof Aryeetey has said converting polytechnics into technical universities is not the way to go.
Speaking at an event organised by NDK Financial Services on Thursday July 21, Prof Aryeetey said: “When you change a polytechnic into a university, you are saying, basically, ‘spend more time doing a research’. …Is that what we want? That’s not what we intended,” he said.
According to him, the conversion is being done because some rectors of the polytechnics have mounted pressure on the government to effect that change to elevate their standing in the academic field. “… Some people believe – that’s the politics – that their stature in Ghana will be enhanced by becoming a professor or a vice chancellor. What is this? …And so they’ll lobby the government and put pressure [on the government] until the government says: ‘OK, we’ll do it for you’. That is how we change things in this country and everybody is happy, or those who are involved are happy and the system does not function effectively”.
Source: Ghana/AccraFM.com
