Govt urged to reconsider promotion criteria for technical varsity lecturers

The Deputy Minister of Education, Professor Kingsley Nyarko, has directed the technical universities to table a proposal to the Ghana Tertiary Education Council (GTEC) to reconsider criteria for promoting their lecturers.

This follows an appeal by the Vice Chancellor of the Cape Coast Technical University (CCTU), Prof. Kwaku Adutwum Ayim Boakye, for the government to reconsider the criteria for lecturers teaching at the technical universities.

Currently, lecturers at techni­cal universities are mandated as part of their promotion requirement to publish articles like their counter­parts in traditional universities even though their field remains a specialised skilled and technical area.

Professor Nyarko, who was inter­acting with the management of CCTU as part of his duty tour of the Takoradi and Cape Coast Technical Universities last Thursday, said the call was in the right direction, however, it must be tabled formerly in order for the government to act on it.

He stated that promotion at technical universities must not only be publication-based as pertained at the traditional universities but must factor in innovation and patents by lecturers since their fields of training require much more practical than theories.

The Minister noted that such reform, when undertaken, would go a long way toward making tertiary education progressive and transformational.

He said the critical role of tech­nical and vocational education and training in the country’s industrialisation drive required that the focus of technical universities as the highest level of training skilled and innova­tive manpower was not diluted in any way.

Professor Nyarko, who is also in charge of technical and vocational education, indicated that the focus of technical universities must not be confused with that of traditional universities, as any attempt to do that would defeat the aim and objectives of the establishment of these specialised institutions.

“We need reforms and innova­tions in this area to make tertiary education progressive,” he stressed.

Furthermore, he said the government recognised the critical role of tech­nical and vocational education in its quest towards the country’s industrialisation and that, it had invested heavily in that area since 2017.

He emphasised that in this direction, the technical universities had not been left as enormous investments and initiatives towards their transformation that had been initiated in the various technical universities across the country.

The Vice-Chancellor of CCTU, Prof. Kwaku Adutwum Ayim Boakye, on his part, underlined that the university had made a number of gains, including the increase in enrolment following the change of its status from a polytechnic to a university.

The gains, he said, were a result of the government investing im­mensely in the area of STEM and TVET education over the last seven years, adding that, “the government has provided world-class facilities such as ultra-modern laboratories and workshops, which has allowed us to have a hands-on experience.”

Prof. Boakye noted that the school of engineering currently run four solid departments comprising civil engineering, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, and renewable energy technology.

He said the progress of the work on developing the various facilities was on course as there had been an increase in the number of lecturers with PhD leaving those without PhD in the minority.

“There has also been an increase in grants, and a huge transforma­tion in areas of research, collab­orations, publicity, mentorship programmes, workshops, and access given to students to have first-hand experience in the area of engineer­ing,” he told the Minister.

As part of the visit, Prof. Nyarko was given an inspection tour of some existing facilities, newly con­structed laboratory workshops, and those currently under construction on the CCTU campus.