In a colourful event organized by the University of Professional College to celebrate a first in Ghana’s academic journey, Professor Goski Alabi who was being honoured for becoming a full professor at institution provided a blueprint for us to fashion our university education after in her key note address.
Speaking at the event under the theme: Quality Higher Education in Ghana: the key issues, Ghana’s First Female Professor in Quality Control called on regulatory bodies in change of Tertiary Education in Ghana to peg the system from colonial mentality and create a University Education System that is distinctively Ghanaian, globally adaptive and competitive.
According to the Dean of International Education at the Institution, Ghana’s University Education is out dated and needs restructuring to respond to current challenges.
Listening to her speech both as a journalist and a product of Ghana’s Tertiary Education, it was easier to relate with the lack of synchrony between Tertiary Education and Practical Work
In view of this, Professor Goski’s speech, though an individual’s recommendations and not necessarily government policy directive gave me hope that with the right mentality and right people in charge of managing our education, we can create a University Education that is Ghana focussed and globally competitive.
Recently I was party of an interview panel to vet job applicants for a security company. As part of the processes, applicants were made to write about themselves. One lady identified herself as a bachelor from the University of Ghana in her essay.
We ignored all the grammatical errors in her essay and asked her to give us the name of a single lady. She said ‘bachelor’ with little confidence, when we pushed her to come again, all she could remember was ‘sprinster’.
This is a student from Ghana’s premier university who came out with Second Class Upper. To make matters worse, her salary expectation was nothing less than 2000 Ghana Cedis with just national service experience.
Clearly, this is a student who did so well telling her lecturers exactly what they told her and got honoured for excellent reproduction
She was never challenged to think beyond the scope of lectures and rewarded for sticking to the rule. To add insult to injury, she walked out from University with a bloated ego and expectation that the next big job is hers albeit her limited knowledge.
Being an excellent academic and successful entrepreneur, Prof Goski is speaking from both side of the spectrum and better placed to make case for employers that our education systems deprives them of quality workers and that they are forced to start all over again.
Until now, majority of University Student play no role in their project work. It is rare to find a University Graduate in this country who can write quality professional business proposal. Even application for employment and CV become an issue for majority.
This is why I was moved by the speech and hope that state actors are moved to deal with the lapses because we are producing many unemployable graduates who are going to end up forming associations which if not dealt with will metamorphosis into rebel groups.
If security experts call unemployment a threat to National Security, then we have every cause to shiver at the rate of unemployable graduates who come out of our universities.
A couple of weeks ago, I had an interview with the CEO of Dalex Finance to talk about employability of Graduates in Ghana and his frustration was visible. According to him, his major hurdle has been to get graduates who communicate well in the English language.
Every employer has issues with the quality of graduates churned out from our Universities
To many employers, it is better to employ SHS graduate and provide them with on the job training because aside the fact that most of them are willing to learn unlike the University Graduate who think they know it all, they are cheaper to employ.
Prof Goski has shown the way: she’s one of Ghana’s finest academics and an Entrepreneur with thriving businesses: she has earned the right to question the system and provide a working solution to the problems identified
If Employers are left with the burden of building graduates from ground zero, then regardless of what academics say, University Education is not living up to its’ billing.
If the customer says the food tastes bad, it doesn’t matter how it tastes to the cook, change must take place.
I have had the privilege of meeting graduates from other countries in the African Continent and there’s no doubt that the Ghanaian graduate is one of the most limited.
Speak to a graduate from Tanzania, Kenya, Lesotho and you’d be amazed by their broad horizon.
About Prof Goski Alabi
PROF. Mrs Goski Bortiorkor Alabi is an academic, a consultant and an accomplished entrepreneur with more than 15 years of professional experience in academic, consultancy, regulation, advocacy and business.
She is one of Africa’s leading experts in total quality management, strategic leadership and corporate governance. Prof. Mrs. Alabi serves on several public, corporate and international boards and committees. She is currently, the West Africa Representative of the Executive Board of the African Council for Distance Education (ACDE), Vice-Chair of The African Network for Internationalization of Education, Member of Laweh Open University College Board of Governors.
Prof Goski is a highly published academic with over 70 scholarly journal publications, books, conferences and technical papers to her credit. She has also presented at several international conferences and has won twice the best conference paper at the Clute Institute (2006 and 2014)
She is currently the Dean, Centre for International Education and Collaboration (UPSA- Ghana).
Read the full script of one of the most intellectually stimulating speeches about Ghana’s University Education below:
Whet your appetite with the Conclusion of the Presentation below or go to the attached link for the full speech. State actors should pay attention to the issues raised. We may not get a more intellectually stimulating and scalable recommendations for dealing with problems with Ghana’s higher education in a long time
INNUAGURAL LECTURE OF PROF. GOSKI BORTIORKOR ALABI
THE FIRST INNUGURAL LECTURE OF UPSA
Conclusion
Drolor Chairman, Ghana’s higher educational system is quite robust, yet there are certain quality issues that continue to slow us down from advancement as a nation. It is clear that industry and employers are generally not quite satisfied with graduates from higher education institutions in Ghana for reasons of skills mismatch and unproductive work attitudes.
If higher education is working for Ghana, it should produce employable graduates, innovations, inventions, discoveries and patents that solve practical problems and enhance the of quality life of the Ghanaian people.
Looking ahead, Ghana needs a “higher education system that supports the development of progressive, entrepreneurial and internationally competitive nation through the development of creative graduates with productive work attitudes, devoted work force and research that meet the needs of the economy and enhance the welfare of all.
To achieve this, Drolor Chairman, Ghana will need
? National Tertiary Education Policy and Strategy that spells out the Purpose, Vision, Mission and Goals and Policy Objectives of Tertiary Education.
? Collaboration among the MoELR, MoE, NDPC, NCTE, AGI, GEA
? Re-prioritize higher education and make resources available for it
? National Qualifications Framework
? National Labor Market Data repository (NCTE, MoELR, NDPC)
? Restructuring of the governance system to reflect current trends while preparing Ghana to be a leader in globalization (NDPC, NCTE, NAB, NABPTEX, COTVET)
? Technology led teaching and learning environment that focuses on learning not teaching placing the student at the center
? Training and retooling of academic staff to be technologically savy
? A conscious and planned partnership with industry and employers
? Review of unprogressive regulatory requirements particularly students’ entry requirement and affiliation
? Provision of incentives and motivation for teaching excellence.
? Internationalization strategy.
? National Education Summit to invite all key stakeholders to deliberate on the Education Sector Performance Report annually.
Drolor Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen, I am looking forward to the day when Ghanaian higher education will be distinctively Ghanaian and globally competitive, I am looking forward to the day when Ghanaian economics professors will be teaching their own economic theories, I am looking forward to seeing Ghanaians patronize the Kantata Cars and help promote the brand on the global market.
I am looking forward to the day when we will develop a vaccine for Malaria in Ghana, I am looking forward to the day when we will have a Ghanaian Management Theory that takes into consideration the Ghanaian
Mean Time (GMT), am looking forward to the day when Ghanaian leadership, governance and political science graduates will come together and develop a political governance system that truly works for the Ghanaian people, then I will be assured that Ghana has a quality and progressive higher education.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I ask for your support to take a stand to initiate these strategic systemic enhancements to our institutions. Together, we will make Ghana a powerhouse in the global economy. Within the next 5-year, let’s overtake S. Africa; and in 10 years, graduate enough powerful innovators to lead the world. Are you with me? ……. If so, stand with me…
May God bless Ghana and make our nation Great and Strong.
Thank You.
For the full presentation, follow the link below
https://www.dropbox.com/s/rovc6onigvhtyib/Quality%20Higher%20Education.docx?dl=0
Isaac Kyei Andoh
[email protected]
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