Varsities fail in research function – Oxford Business report

Although the country has as many as 9 public and 60 private universities, only 730 students are studying for PhDs, as many Ghanaians prefer to go abroad for research and further studies, the 2017 edition of the Oxford Business Group’s investment and economic report, on more than 30 countries, has said.

“That the research function of universities in Ghana remains underdeveloped is one of the higher education system’s significant weaknesses,” the report said, indicating that “International education is currently filling the gap here.”

The 730 PhD students are part of a total 166,508 students studying in various universities in the country, for various levels of qualification.

The relatively low number of PhD students has implications not only for research and development generally, but on faculty at the universities themselves, especially as in some respects, the universities, particularly the public ones, insist on PhD holders as lecturers.

The country’s universities have been struggling with insufficient numbers of professors, which has been compounded by the problem of aging professors and poor funding for research.

Currently, there are 158 professors in all the public universities, of which 140 are male and 18 females.

In a subject area like communication studies, one cannot obtain a PhD in Ghana as none of the universities offers it.

The shortage in numbers of professors has been described by the National Council for Tertiary Education as “below the norm,” amidst the exodus of lecturers seeking better teaching opportunities abroad, where there is a smaller workload and better pay.

As a standard set by the National Accreditation Board, every accredited university is to have 10 percent of its academic staff being professors, 15 percent associate professors, 35 percent senior lecturers and 40 percent lecturers.

So far, the country’s oldest university, the University of Ghana, is the only school that has met the professorial quota of having 10 percent of its academic staff being professors, while the University of Cape Coast has just 4 percent of its academic staff as professors.

Commenting on the outlook for Ghana’s education sector, the report said the sector has evolved and grown steadily over the past decades.

“However, it has not always kept pace with the economy’s acceleration and diversification in recent years, while in some areas – particularly with IE [inclusive education] – the long-term goals have still not been met. With this in mind, reform and development of the sector has become a priority, an undertaking in which both foreign and private partners are playing key roles.”