Accra, Jan. 13, GNA – Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, the Minister of Education has challenged the Governing Councils of Technical Universities in the country to aim high and be globally competitive.
Dr Adutwum said being competitive would come with a curriculum that met the needs of industry players across the globe for socio-economic development.
He said “to achieve this feat, you need to avoid petty politics during Council’s meeting and dream high for the progress of the Universities because Technical University holds the key to the industrialisation drive of a country.”
Speaking at the inauguration of three Governing Councils of Technical Universities in Accra on Thursday, the Minister called on them to implement programmes that would improve technical and vocational education in the country.
The Universities are Sunyani Technical University, Takoradi Technical University and Dr Hilla Limann Technical University.
Dr Adutwum administered the oaths of office and secrecy to the Council members with the mandate to manage the affairs of the institutions.
He charged them to be interested in the general education of the students and developed innovative ways to enhance teaching in the University in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic for improved outcomes.
The development of Technical University, the Minister, said remained high on Government’s education reform agenda as it was key to the development of the country.
“You have to begin to look at how to create internship programmes that will take these students from the classroom and put them in the field, but that is not going to happen if the internship programme is not well structured, so you have a task to perform,” he said.
He urged the Councils to begin processes to replace the Bachelor of Technology courses with Bachelor of Science in Engineering to eliminate the stereotype associated with the course and make it more competitive.
The Minister said there was high demand for engineering students in the country and urged the Council members to help the management of the Universities to develop the technical abilities of students to enhance national development.
The Minister urged the universities to collaborate with companies for students to have hands-on experience on the job to bridge the academia and industry gap.
Dr Kwame Agyeman Boakye, Chairman of Sunyani Technical University, pledged the commitment of the Council to abiding by the mandate of the University and work towards ensuring that students were more creative in solving problems.
He assured the Minister of their readiness to work assiduously to improve Technical Universities in the country.
The Governing Councils were made up of representatives of the various stakeholders, including the University Teachers Association of Ghana, Alumni, Ghana Tertiary Education Commission, government nominees, Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools, Graduate Students’ Association of Ghana, Tertiary Education Workers’ Union, and Students’ Representative Council.
GNA