Enrolment figures for tertiary institutions 319,659 in 2014/15 academic year

Mr Ablakwa said higher educational institutions were expected to play leading roles in addressing the development deficits in Africa to curb the attendant problems of poverty

Deputy Minister of Education, Mr Samuel Okudjeto Ablakwa

Students enrolled in both public and private tertiary institutions in the country during the 2014/2015 academic year were 319, 659.

Enrolment in the country’s universities increased by 6.3 per cent during the year under review; that of the polytechnics   increased by 8.9 per cent and the colleges of education, by 9.05 per cent.

A Deputy Minister of Education, Mr Samuel Okudjeto Ablakwa, made this known in a speech read on his behalf at the opening of the African Good Governance Network (AGGN) meeting in Accra Friday/

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The West Africa Chapter meeting of the AGGN, organised by the Arnold Badge Strasse Institute of Germany, with the support of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), had the theme, “The changing landscape of higher education institutions in Africa”.

The meeting was organised to discuss pertinent issues in higher education in Africa and their effect on good governance on the African Continent.

Mr Ablakwa said higher educational institutions were expected to play leading roles in addressing the development deficits in Africa to curb the attendant problems of poverty, low productivity and unemployment, among other challenges.

He also said Ghana, in its quest for a vibrant educational agenda that would meet the challenges of the rapid technological development in the 21st century, had seen several changes in policies, especially in the delivery of higher education.

The deputy minister said the very important issue of providing opportunities for progression along the technical and vocational disciplines informed the government’s policy to convert polytechnics into technical universities.

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He also said the aim of the ministry was to realign the operations of the country’s polytechnics to provide education and training for the world of work and through the government’s policy of converting polytechnics into technical universities, students are expected to be trained to enable them to acquire high employable skills.

New technical universities

Mr Ablakwa said the new technical universities would have strong links with industry and business, support existing and emerging productive sectors of the economy with technical expertise and focus on practical research activities.

“The converted polytechnics or future technical universities would be modelled along the lines of the University of Applied Sciences in Germany and the ministry has so far taken significant steps towards the signing of a memorandum of understanding with DAAD to bring into full effect, the letter of intent signed in April, 2014.

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For her part, Ms Chikas Danfulani, Regional Chapter Representative of AGGN, said the network was made up of highly qualified intellectuals who studied in Germany.

She also said there were four regional chapters of the AGGN, namely the Southern, Western, Eastern and Central chapters which met to discuss the transformation taking place in educational systems in the various regions.

She added that currently, Africa was experiencing a lot of transformation and higher educational institutions were at the centre of these transformations as in Nigeria, for example, colleges of education had been transformed into degree-awarding institutions, while in Ghana the government was in the process of transforming polytechnics into technical universities.

Sorce: graphic.com.gh

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