Lecturers suffering to manage substandard University students churned by Akufo-Addo - Apaak

Member of Parliament for Builsa South and Deputy Ranking Member on Education Dr. Clement Apaak has expressed worry about the state of education in Ghana under the leadership of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

According to him, the quality of students produced under the Free Senior High School system is a major challenge as lecturers have had to deal with students who are poor at the English language and even have challenges with writing.

He said lecturers have had to deal with these issues and others including the fact that they are overburdened with a large number of students yet they have very poor working conditions.

To him, the move to strike to drum home their needs is the way to go and the government must ensure that their needs are fulfilled.

Read his full post here

Education In Crisis Public Universities

The ongoing strike by Lecturers of our Public Universities has generated a wider conversation regarding our Public Universities.

The stalled conditions of service negotiations between the University Teachers’ Association (UTAG) and the Government, and the withdrawal of teaching and related services by University Lecturers is unfortunate.

However the Lecturers cannot be blamed, Government must be held to account for failing to fulfill its obligations to the Lecturers.

Below are some of the issues affecting teaching and learning in our Public Universities.

1. Overburdened Lecturers due to large student numbers;

2. Poor condition of service of lecturers, leading to the limited focus on the quality of teaching;

4. Limited research support and funding, leading to limited research output;

5. Lack of adequate infrastructure; lecture halls, residential facilities, office space, etc;

6. Non-provision of teaching aids such as laptops and horrible Internet and IT infrastructure and costs, in face of Covid;

7. Quality of students entering the universities is challenging as some have poor English and writing ability.

Dr. Clement Apaak

M.P, Builsa South and Deputy Ranking Member On Education