Problems of tertiary education part of general situation

Tamale (Northern Region), 16 Feb '99 -

The Deputy Northern Regional Minister, Mr San Nasamu Asabigi said the problems of tertiary education cannot be isolated from the general economic situation. He said as the economy steadily picks up due to the pragmatic policies of the government, the problems associated with tertiary education would be resolved. Mr Asabigi was launching the annual week celebrations of the Ghana National Union of Polytechnic Students (GNUPS) at the Tamale Polytechnic at the weekend called on students and their leaders to have a sober reflection about the realities of the economic situation as they argue out their stand on tertiary education.

The celebration is on theme "The National Economy and the Crisis in Tertiary education, the case of the Polytechnics". He said the success of the Vision 2020 greatly depends on the various contributions expected from the products of the polytechnics. The students should, therefore, apply themselves assiduously to their studies in spite of the constraints in order to acquire skills that can make positive impact on the society and thereby justify public funding and support. Mr Adam Mohammed Amin, former President of the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) said the country's system of education especially that of tertiary education should be equitable towards social mobility. He said tertiary education must be seen as an investment in human capital, which requires the needed funding to make the products contribute to the socio-economic development of the country.

Mr Amin said the courses at the tertiary level are focused to train highly skilled technicians and middle level manpower and urged all stakeholders to support it for the country's development. He expressed appreciation for the government's allocation of 44.2 billion cedis for tertiary education in this year's budget and a further 6.8 billion cedis to upgrade facilities in the polytechnics. He also applauded government's decision to establish two more polytechnics in the Upper West and Upper East regions.