By Solomon Gumah
Tamale, May 15, GNA – Professor Abdul-Rauf Ibrahim, a lecturer in Chemical Engineering at the Tamale Technical University, has called on the government to make deliberate investments in science infrastructure to secure Ghana’s future development.
He said although successive governments had acknowledged the importance of science and mathematics education, inadequate laboratories, equipment and research facilities continued to undermine effective science education and innovation in the country.
Professor Ibrahim made the call in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on the sidelines of the 2026 Africa Science Week celebration held in Tamale.
The celebration was on the theme: “Harnessing Science and Innovation for Africa’s Sustainable Future”.
It was organised by the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences Network in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation and attended by students from selected second cycle and tertiary institutions, educators and stakeholders in the education sector.
The initiative, running from May 14 to May 30, 2026, seeks to promote science engagement and innovation through science expos, coding workshops, robotics demonstrations, Women in STEM forums and academic exchanges.
Professor Ibrahim noted that many people responsible for shaping policies and laws guiding science education were often without science backgrounds, thereby creating challenges for technical institutions.
Prof Ibrahim, who used Tamale Technical University as a case study, explained that programmes developed by technical universities were frequently assessed by traditional universities, whose mandates differed significantly.
He said: “A lot of the time, what we see as important, they don’t see it as important, and eventually you have to adjust to what they want.”
He underscored the urgent need for funding support, saying many researchers and lecturers in Ghana were unable to undertake impactful studies because of inadequate funding and the absence of modern laboratories.
He said many academics had been reduced to undertaking “desktop or survival research” because they lacked the infrastructure needed to compete for major international grants.
Professor Ibrahim called for stronger collaboration between academia and industry to promote innovation and practical research outcomes.
He said industries should be directly linked to educational institutions to enable researchers to solve practical industrial challenges while government support universities with resources and opportunities.
He spoke on science education at the pre-tertiary and tertiary levels and said Ghana had developed sound policies and curriculum frameworks, especially with the introduction of Competency-Based Training but implementation remained weak because of poor infrastructure.
He explained that competency-based learning required students to work with real equipment and laboratories, yet many schools lacked such facilities.
Professor Ibrahim said lecturers often had to improvise or seek external opportunities for students to gain practical exposure because institutions lacked the necessary facilities.
He, therefore, urged the government to invest in modern laboratories, complete abandoned infrastructure projects and enter bilateral agreements to help equip institutions with the needed technology.
GNA
Edited by Eric K. Amoh/Benjamin Mensah