Converting Polytechnics to Technical Universities: Boosting or Sinking Technical/Vocational Education

The Commonwealth Association of Polytechnics and Technical Universities in Africa (CAPA) has advised African countries that if they genuinely want to develop the continent, they must prioritise technical/vocational. The Association drummed that message throughout its international Conference in Mombasa, Kenya, held from June 5-11, 2016. The theme of the Conference was timely: Strategic Involvement of TVET Institutions towards the Attainment of Post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals in Africa. The major objective was to explore the role of technical/vocational education in Africa in the pursuit and achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, as well as its overarching role in the actual development of the Continent.

A concurrent message to African technical institutions bordered on a reprimand: You have done enough talking; it is time for implementation, so start acting now (emphasis mine). That message was a poignant reminder that we have been stuck at the talking stage. So much time is spent re-planning/re-inventing existing ideas instead of bracing up for implementation and innovation. We develop elaborate policies and learning programmes, yet when it comes to implementation, we hmm and ahh, and scratch our heads then dream up the same ideas in new sets of package, so that we can remain at the planning stage, or we implement in bizarre manner such that we regress rather than progress. We have failed to utilise the system to produce human resources whose performance can improve self, community, industry, nation, and continent.

One keynote speaker, Mr. Manu Chandria, a renowned industrialist, stated that China has been able to create a new “united states” within thirty years. It achieved that feat through technical/vocational education. Mr. Chandria is right. China has become the hub of outsourcing for the globe. It has developed skills to produce top-notch quality goods for the West and inferior ones for Africans who do not value standards. It has something for everyone and every country. From toothpick through to furniture for parliament houses, call on China and it will deliver. Every commodity outsourced or exported from China is a testimony of the Chinese technical/vocational system. Put together the diverse good and services the world receive from that country, and one gets a picture of a solid system which empowers its citizens through skill acquisition. Of course, the citizens’ practices enrich China.

Prudently, it has developed and perfected its research enterprise, through which it not only matches services to needs but explores innovative ways to address human needs, local and international. Evidently, China’s technical/vocational system does not operate on mediocrity or superficiality. It aspires for intellectual and professional excellence and demonstrates such through practice. Chinese output sells China. They can deliver! Definitely, China develops its human potential through education.

Rightly, Mr Chandria harped on the human potential that can be developed through technical education, if the system will be genuinely improved and allowed to work. The industrialist called on African technical/vocational systems to halt the feet dragging and develop human potential through genuine investment in human capital, realistic curricula, and competent training, in order to raise Africa from its status of the least developed continent. In other words, instead of importing and buying from China, Africans should invest genuinely in education, operate current curricula and pursue actual learning. Africans should prioritise action and applied research to improve its learning systems and use such to chart national development. There are key lesson for this country.

Ghana’s decision to convert its polytechnics to technical universities has coincided with the World’s resolve to tackle sustainable development in an attempt to bring appreciable quality to human existence. The emphasis on equal and quality education is appreciated by all, since education improves the lot of a person. However, only quality education empowers beneficiaries. When institutions and nations merely pretend to educate, they produce human liabilities who greedily take from communities and nation instead of working passionately for community and national development. When educated ones are unable to apply knowledge for the concurrent benefits of self and community, they render education an eyesore, Ghana’s current situation.

A cursory look at the nation’s teeming mass of unemployed youth, skilled and unskilled on one hand, and the mediocre and under-performance in the workforce on the other hand, can convince one that education in this country has failed woefully, and as such drastic changes are needed for remedy. Technical/vocational education is in the centre of that sorry spectacle, because it trains the workforce which performs the technical, middle level and artisanal jobs across all sectors, which performance might be used to determine the quality of training imparted by the institutions, and the rate of development it can bring to the nation. As to the development engendered so far, the government, learning institutions and industry, beneficiaries, individuals and the general public can make their own judgments: mostly, educated people with hardly employable skills. Yet instead of crying over spilt milk; we desire to pursue competence, hence, the intended conversion of polytechnics to technical universities.

Target Quality Education

The reality is that a mere name change will not improve technical/vocational education in the country. The only avenue to genuine improvement is that this conversion must be development-oriented, and not from any myopic or jaundiced motivation. Quality education does not happen by itself; it is strategized and carefully executed. Quality education is not rushed or selectively implemented. It is approached holistically, and realistically, through the planning, execution, evaluation and review stages. Simply put, quality education is a painstaking effort, human-oriented. Any educational review or reform that can be rushed is superficial, not genuine, certainly not for community, national, and continental goodwill.

In other words, when continent, nation and community become the target for development, individuals therein become automatic beneficiaries, because initiatives will be community-oriented, rather than egotistical. In short, quality technical education is a strategy for sustainable employment and benefits. It empowers recipients to exploit natural resources for the benefit of society. Westerners have been practicing that for centuries. China has achieved that. Kenyans are treading that path. Such must be our goals for this conversion: No other motive is acceptable. No other motive will legitimise the existence of technical universities in the country. No other motive will yield the desirable change for the nation and continent. For a change, educational review in this country ought to be about human capital, not about politics.

In spite of the disadvantaged position of technical/vocational education, the nation has acknowledged that it anchors national development if it imparts the relevant skills to trainees. Appropriately therefore, all the polytechnics are expected to convert their regular curricula to competency-based training (CBT) for career creation, and to ensure that current and marketable training is imparted to learners. Therein lies one fundamental challenge; generally, the curriculum developers have not been trained. Curriculum is developed by well-equipped groups. We must take a cue from Kenya. It has established the TVET Curriculum Development, Assessment and Certification Council which trains technical institutions for CBT programmes and monitors their performance. It has structured a training schedule for all technical institutions. The Chair of the Council informed me that the Council has trained seven hundred teachers and is systematically moving from one institution to another. Kenya planned very well and is executing gradually. One can see the results from local performance, industry included. Training polytechnics teachers for CBT curriculum design ought to have been Ghana’s fundamental move for one primary reason.

The polytechnic system has seen a huge explosion of human resource development in the last two decades, yet the training has been theoretically skewed. The system has failed to ensure a proper alignment of theory and practice in its classrooms. Consequently, the practical content in the various training programme has gone downhill. It continues to produce job seekers instead of job creators. Products’ skills do not match national and industrial needs.

Even industrial attachment time has reduced. In some programmes, there is zero practical training in the classroom, because teachers cannot align theory with practice. In many disciplines, the polytechnics have been offering raw training like the universities, replicating university programmes instead of developing hands-on version of such courses. These are the same teachers who are drawing the CBT curriculum, when they have not been given the necessary orientation. A cross-section of teachers has already predicted that at the end of the day, it will be the same regular curriculum labelled as CBT. That admission is a seal for further demise of technical/vocational education in Ghana.

Of course, quality education should begin from the pre-school through to the tertiary and higher institutions. Quality rests in accurate and timely content delivered at the appropriate times, by qualified personnel, and in the right amounts. The nation has failed to achieve zero literacy rate due to its inability to attain Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE). The foundation level of education in this country is extremely weak; hence, it negates whatever attempts are made to improve secondary and tertiary education. Yet, instead of focusing on strengthening literacy and education at the foundation level, governments opt for the easy way out, giving free school uniforms and school sandals, vehicles and buildings, effectively diverting limited funds from where it belongs. Whilst these provisions are necessary, if they are not founded on timely, accurate knowledge, they fail to be effective.

That is the reason industries are receiving graduates who possess barely employable skills, and that cuts across polytechnics and universities. The literacy and mathematical literacy skills of secondary school graduates are barely discernible. An appreciable percentage that enters the tertiary classroom are not equipped for the academic challenges therein, hence, they cope badly. Some stakeholders have explained the situation thus: “Garbage in, garbage out”. Due to the disadvantaged position of Technical/Vocational education, the polytechnics receives the greater number of the weak products from the secondary level, who complete professional courses yet fail to acquire the necessary sophistication to create their own jobs or be attracted to diligent and proactive employers or institutions. A mere conversion will not change that. Yet, even when students lack the necessary knowledge, diligent tertiary institutions could design learning structures to make up for the knowledge gap, whilst improving the base.

Due to the knowledge handicap that results from an extremely fragile foundation of education, the learning systems are sapped of intellectual innovation necessary for addressing human needs of the state. Again, the polytechnics bear a greater percentage of the blame. Quality applied research is at its minimum; programmes have not been modelled to equip the youth with sustainable employment skills. Consequently, the conversion can occur, but the institutions will not function like technical universities such as Dresden, which characteristically engage in high-powered level research, pursue intellectual excellence, or explore natural resources to better human existence. And therein lies another fundamental challenge for this conversion: The polytechnics are not equipped, at the human and infrastructural levels for technical university work, and until these fundamental challenges are addressed, the conversion remains in name only.

Aiming for Competence

The CBT curriculum is pivotal in this conversion; in five years, graduate competence would be the determinant of the success or failure of technical universities in the country, per the employability or otherwise of the products. Some engineering programmes were converted a few years ago. Occasionally, one or two from the existing CBT programmes are consulted at the discretion of the schools within polytechnics. Technically, the teachers currently developing the curricula have not been trained for that technical role, yet they are engaged in the most fundamental aspect of the teaching/learning system. For majority of the programmes, it is a struggle which might not just yield the desirable objective.

Considering that products of the current CBT programmes have not been tracked on the job market to determine their overall effectiveness in the industry, using CBT trainees to train other teachers is neither an academic nor an astute move. Besides, each discipline must have its own CBT approach. A serious move would have been to track beneficiaries of the CBT programmes, using industrial parameters, review their performance in order to better classroom practices. The improved curriculum would then become a model after which various curricula could be fashioned for other disciplines. Such an approach would render the review learner-driven, not teacher-driven. Such an approach would signal that the nation desires to train its youth for dignified employment. Such a meticulous approach would actualise improvement of polytechnic education. In absence of that, departments are designing curricula in order to give teachers classroom contact hours.

Polytechnics have been scurrying for teacher upgrade in recent times, but that upgrade has seen a quantum upsurge since the quest for technical universities set in. Yet the harsh reality that human resource development has not necessarily translated into quality training, theoretically or in practice, is another fundamental challenge for the system and Nation. The system embarked on teacher upgrading without charting a path for that upgrade. Training ought to have been focused on improving hands-on training. Emphasis ought to have been on performance in practical training, not on mere certification. Currently, a cross-section of polytechnic teachers does not understand the practical reality of the polytechnic classroom.

Communities elsewhere that have succeeded in transforming technical/vocational education, and higher learning in general, prioritise programmes that meet community, industrial and learner demands. On the contrary, Ghana does not invest what it ought to in order to design quality needs-based curricula. Over the years, governments have deliberately selected provisions that fail to strengthen vocational/technical education. Cutting corners in the past several decades has boomerang now and culminated in a failed educational system which is now successfully producing half-baked graduates and a mounting teeming mass of unemployable youth.

The unemployment situation currently facing the nation is not solely because government fails to create employment. Ironically, the high unemployment rate runs concurrently with employment mismatch. There are jobs for which there are no skills. That situation cannot be blamed on government alone; learning institutions are partly to blame. As a nation, we have marginalised research. We have failed to use education and research to address community and national needs. We have failed to utilise action research to sharpen teaching/learning and evaluation for human and community development.

Subsequently, we have not managed to master investigative approaches through applied research, which approaches could have guided us to hone skills across community and industrial levels. We have been satisfied with merely churning out graduates, applauding ourselves for numbers instead of tracking quality output among graduates. We have reduced educational standards so much that we are currently, mostly, producing educated illiterates across all learning levels. The resultant insidious national plague is producing, in numbers, intellectuals who can barely put thought together or perform. The contemporary global employer seeks competence, not certificates.

If technical/vocational education had been guided by applied and scientific research in the past, it could have discovered solution or effective approaches to socio-cultural and economic challenges such as safe waste management, to name one. Such knowledge could now be used to further refine knowledge and practices, even among the unskilled. Then beneficiaries would be empowered to create jobs. One educationist has lamented that polytechnic students currently complete autonomous courses in entrepreneurship and seek government employment. On the whole, the system has failed to fulfil its mandate of imparting hands-on-training to learners. Beneficiaries trust paper qualification for progress rather than hands-on expertise, because the workforce, largely, promotes by certificate, not by practice. That is one of the reasons the system has failed to produce competent personnel.

Target Technical/Vocational Education

So far, the reasons advanced for technical university have largely bordered on the superficiality rather than academic. Whilst universities are apprehensive that the polytechnics do not qualify for university status, the polytechnic fraternity is happy because it will enjoy a university status. Polytechnic students are happy that they will be university graduates. The core issues, however, ought to be academic and realistic investment in the system, and until those are genuinely attended to, the system will not improve. The United Kingdom currently spends about £4,000 on a technical/vocational student. How does that compare with Ghanaian funding for such students? The Committee that recommended timelines commented on the huge disparity in funding between Ghana and the German institutions they visited. It rightly suggested a gradual approach, but it should not have recommended its commencement in September 2016, considering the diverse academic challenges facing the system. The approach adopted for this conversion indicates that we are neither learning from the past nor targeting human capital.

Polytechnic staff can pile up all the degrees under the sun. Workshops and laboratories and classrooms can be furnished with the state of the art tools and equipment. Programmes can be re-packaged in the most appealing forms. If the teaching and the taught are not oriented for practical training, all the other resources will not yield skilled products. Teachers must be submerged in the CBT concept, regardless of their disciplines of expertise. They must have absolute control over the alignment of theory and practice in their subject areas. Only such enlightened teachers can motivate learners to appreciate the career and academic paths offered by the polytechnics.

Currently, the average secondary school graduate does not regard the polytechnic as a legitimate path for academic and professional progression. New Zealand can assert that 44 % of its annual 65,000 secondary school graduates opt for polytechnics or trades training, whilst 38 % enrol in the universities. The reverse happens in Ghana. Averagely, secondary school graduates target the university; the polytechnic is a second best. In 2013, two streams of secondary school graduates were admitted into tertiary institutions in the country. Whilst the universities were brimming with applications, the polytechnics bled, because the Ministry of Education insisted on a minimum entry requirement of C6 in core subjects.

The polytechnics had to negotiate a deal for conditional admission before they could fill their classrooms. Admission requirements had to be lowered for entrants, and that situation has since prevailed. Consequently, polytechnic classrooms are populated by a high percentage of students whose literacy and mathematical literacy skills are extremely weak, making tertiary work impossible. How can the polytechnic be attractive to the youth when they witness that lower academic performers are admitted into the system? Most importantly, how can such poor performers engage in the high-powered level research for innovation that has characterised contemporary technical universities in other communities?

A cross-section of the polytechnic system has managed to convince itself that technical/vocational learners do not need strong skills in English language in order to enter polytechnic classrooms because they are going to pursue vocation, not grammar. A fallacy. In 2011, the United Kingdom extensively reviewed its technical/vocational educational system. It made strong language skills a linchpin. Learners need to obtain grade A-C to qualify for enrolment. Students who perform poorly are expected to concentrate on developing their language skills. The rationale is simple: Students must be well-equipped for the academic challenges of the tertiary classroom. A strong grasp of the core subjects provides an appreciable foundation for tertiary work, which foundation makes students motivated learners. In view of that, New Zealand has actually upped its literacy requirement for the tertiary classroom, but Ghana compromises its literacy requirements for numbers due to poor funding. The compromise is breeding in the polytechnic classroom elements who can barely read or write. Such elements are not motivated learners; learning is a chore. One cannot establish a technical university system on such a porous human foundation.

Commitment is also lacking from other stakeholders which is the reason the system has failed to live up to expectation, and will continue as such in spite of any label change, if issues are not legitimately addressed. Let us begin with an honest tracer studies in industry in order to determine what has worked or failed, what industry requires and what they can do to help. Based on such assessment, government will know the right type of investment and the appropriate breakdown. Administrative machineries in the polytechnic will be able to align theory and practice in human resource placement, aided by a Competency-Based Training schedule. The systems will design a variety of programmes, tertiary and non-tertiary, so that the right academic elements can be placed in the appropriate academic programmes, with the necessary flexible timelines. Industry must also demonstrate strong commitment and offer necessary internship to learners. The polytechnics must be obliged to own the changes. If such a system could be upheld, it would attract focused learners, not the failed. Only then would beneficiaries be sustainable job creators.

A motivated and committed team of teachers and learners would pursue mastery of skills, which could lead to excellence in performance across all sectors. Such excellence would endow performers with secured employable skills, per SDG objectives. In such an enabling environment, the trapped would be wrenched from the claws of abject poverty. The nation would tread the path of genuine development, the essence of technical/vocational education. Mediocrity and non-performance have no place in technical universities. The crucial need for strategic planning and implementation for this conversion cannot be over-emphasised.

So far, we have been hurdling toward this conversion rather than run a marathon in order to address entrenched fundamental challenges of the polytechnic system. No name-change will transform the system. The President of Ghana has rightly commented that the nation needs to move away from the hitherto grammar education and engage in competency-based education. Again, that move requires genuine strategy and the willpower for implementation. I hope he cushions that move with the needed investment. The system must aspire for excellence and international standards.

Appreciable structures are already in place; the challenge is making them work for the system. Instead of aspiring for excellence, the system has chosen to be satisfied with mediocrity. It has leaned toward superficiality rather than genuine academic and professional excellence. Mastery of skills has not been prioritised. Applied and action research which could help to evaluate and improve upon academic work have been, largely, neglected. Academic and professional guidance and counselling do not receive the necessary attention. Worst of all, monitoring for teaching and evaluation is executed haphazardly, all of which situations have compromised quality teaching/learning and evaluation. Unscrupulous teachers manipulate the system for purely selfish reasons and go scot-free. Consequently, an appreciable cross-section of polytechnic products possesses certificates they cannot defend. Already, a section of industry does not trust polytechnic 1^st class certificates.

The youth should be the target of this review; we should strive to endow them with sustainable marketable skills, not certify them for professional indignity. Polytechnics should target programmes that can attract the youth. Instead of competing with the universities over programmes, it must package practical courses that would set them apart as alternative legitimate paths for learning and practice. Polytechnic programmes should not be designed so that teachers can have jobs; rather they should be packaged for sustained employment benefits of trainees. Motivated human resources can utilise all other resources effectively, whereas poor human resources would underutilise the best of teaching/learning resources. If the legitimate issues raised here were addressed first, it would automatically transform the polytechnic system, and render the transition to technical university a very smooth activity.

Again, technical/vocational education is not for non-performers; it is not for apathetic learners. It definitely is not for shoddy teachers. Technical/vocational training is meant for intelligent ones who desire to earn quality existence through genuine practice. Such ones practice excellence, not mediocrity. Technical/vocational education is the lifeline of communities and nations, because it trains technicians and artisans who perform core services, in domestic, public/commercial services. Since all in the communities solicit such services, a substandard technical/vocational learning system endangers the entire community.

The poor services we are all encountering across the country provide the sharpest statement that technical/vocational system has failed. That reality should motivate us to strengthen the system. All ego should be pocketed. Stakeholders must focus on quality services, returns for national training and investment — dignified employment for people, the youth especially, sustainable employment and (extreme) poverty eradication, sustained GDP growth, to mention these genuine reasons for action. If we had such an agenda, this conversion would not be rushed. Yes, it was a campaign manifesto, but practical governments know that when campaign manifestoes cannot be realistically implemented, it benefits society to stall such promises. Parliament itself acknowledges the challenges; therefore, the focus should be on addressing the fundamental challenges not rush a change which makes even major stakeholders extremely apprehensive.

If we rush this change in September, we would be making a purely hollow move, which would further sink, not boost technical/vocational education in the country. 

Reading to Nurture the Mind: A holistic Concept

Ghanaian youth have been advised to cultivate the habit of reading in order to nurture their intellect and become excellent human beings. That advice was stressed by all the major speakers at the maiden book festival organised by the Ghana Association of Writers (GAW), through the Western Regional Branch on July 1, 2016. That was the first GAW book festival held outside Accra. The programme stressed the need for the youth to cultivate the habit of reading, for creative as well as for academic purposes, because reading helps the mind to develop human potential.

The theme for the festival, nurturing young minds, nurturing the intellect, gave speakers opportunity to address the concept of reading from different perspectives. The simple message was that reading is a habit that must be cultivated, in an enabling environment. As such, various stakeholders must play their roles for children to develop the desire for reading. In her welcome address, the Western Regional Representative of GAW intimated that reading enabled an individual to develop all the human senses. She reasoned that if an individual read to nurture his/her potential, s/he would not be easily swayed by others. A person who is well-read develops the intellectual sophistication to make autonomous decision in life, always weighing issues, prepared for consequences.

The festival was chaired by Miss Sarah Araba Zentey, the Deputy Regional Director of Education, who represented the Regional Director, Mrs  Enyonam Afi  Amafuga. In a speech read by the Deputy Director, Mrs. Amafuga applauded GAW for guiding secondary school students to rediscover the culture of reading. Whilst acknowledging that reading lays the foundation for learning in a child’s life, she condemned the high illiteracy rate of Sub-Saharan Africa. The Director alluded to the grave consequences of illiteracy when she cited that “countries that have increased their literacy rate by 20-30 % have simultaneous increases of 8-10 % in Gross Domestic Product.

Mrs. Amafuga shared another research finding that reading textbooks boosted fluency by 9.6 words per minute, while reading at home boosted readers’ fluency by 8.3 words per minute. Amongst other benefits, she reminded the audience that reading helps to develop speech and communication skills of individuals; It exposes the reader to a wealth of knowledge which helps one to cultivate logical reasoning, critical perspectives, discipline of concentration, all of which qualities prepare learners for academic excellence, thus, GAW could not have a better theme for the Festival. She hoped that the festival would not be a seven-day wonder, but that GAW would continue with such pro-reading activities.

The Guest-of-Honour, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Sekondi Branch, Officer David Agyemang Adjem, reminded parents that they have the fundamental role in the intellectual development of a child. He lamented that many parents provide materially for their children but fail to provide for them intellectually. Parents must read to their children right from infancy, then guide them through the formative years by sowing in them the seeds of good reading habits. He also stressed that a person who reads well is not easily manipulated by others, because a reader develops the various human senses for sound judgment in life.

The Guest speaker, Nii Lantey Cleland, former Western Regional Director of Education, reiterated the role of parents in children’s reading interests. He also stressed the need for parents to create the right environment for children’s reading, but he further developed the theme from the educationist perspective. The speaker explained that nurturing means patiently, gently taking care of something in order to make it develop a strong foundation. The foundation for analytical reading, which characterises formal education, must be laid at the pre-school stage. He expressed disappointment that the nation has persistently neglected the pre-school, failing to place professional educators there to ensure that the necessary reading guidance is given to pre-schoolers. Once the mind was firmly nurtured, Nii harped, the individual would be intellectually autonomous.

Among the guests was Nana Kobina Nketsiah V, the Omanhene of Essikado, who also emphasised that an individual has a responsibility to cultivate a reading habit in order to develop an independent mind, a mind that cannot be controlled by others. He pointed out to the youth that the biggest weapon of any oppressor is the mind of the oppressed. Nana Nketsiah bemoaned the mediocre creativity and intellectual practices that have besieged the country’s performing arts, because such stakeholders fail to read analytically for legitimate information which can propel them to excellence in performance. He added his voice to the other speakers’ and reprimanded the Western Region for poor patronage of literary and educative programmes. He commended the audience for patronising the book festival, reminding them that they represent an authentic future. Nana also reminded the youth especially to read the works of great African writers such as Ayi Kwei Armah and the late Chinua Achebe among others, since they provide insight to a legitimate African worldview.

The youth was reminded that they are living in trying times in which opportunistic ones constantly attempt to exploit the innocence. To foist such destructive attempts, they must develop their intellectual powers for discernment, so that they can differentiate between genuine and camouflaged help. If the youth read to develop empathy, and common sense and insight, unscrupulous adults could not use them to harm fellow human beings or destroy property. A well-read mind is a refined mind, and a refined mind protects and salvages resources, rather than destroy them.

All the speeches could be summed up thus: A reading habit does not happen by chance; it is a collective act. All the stakeholders must play their parts well. Parents must sow the seed by reading to and guiding their children’s reading. The school system must train and place qualified personnel appropriately, especially, at the foundation level. Individuals must cultivate the reading habit. If all stakeholders played their roles well, the youth could be impressed upon to appreciate reading. 

The book festival was also an opportunity for GAW Western Region to honour Institutions and personalities who have been pivotal in the survival of the Association in the Region in the past three years. Twin City Radio and the Centre for National Culture received GAW Recognition Award for promoting the activities of the Association in the Region. Five personalities were also awarded for their services to the Association The personalities were Nana Kobina Nketsia V, Nii Lantey Cleland, former Western Regional Director, GES, Mr. Stephen Sedofu, Director, Centre for National Culture, Mr. Coffie Nyadi, former Regional Director of Twin City Radio and Mr. Kwame Malcolm, a news anchor, formerly of Twin City Radio but currently with radio 360. All are entreated to emulate the examples of the awardees by supporting GAW.

After the opening ceremony, all enjoyed reading books from the Ghana Library Mobile Van which featured a variety of reading materials for young and old. Various book houses as well as individual authors participated in the festival, providing opportunity for the audience to purchase books. Participating schools displayed admirable creative prowess. Takoradi Senior High gave a spirited drama performance, Baidoo Bonsu Fiaseman, Methodist Day treated the audience to good poetry recitals. GSTS thrilled all with excellent riddles. A karaoke session brought the curtain down on the book festival. It was a day well-spent dabbling in creative activities. The activities of the participating school gave proof that efforts to promote reading and writing have not been completely in vain.

Dinah Serwaa Amankwah
GAW Rep, Western Region
Lecturer, Communication Skills
Takoradi Polytechnic

Palm Oil Contamination allegation: Thorough Investigation Needed

The local palm oil industry has been hit by two major scandals in recent times, which scandals pose a risk to the health of consumers, subsequently, bad for palm oil patronage. The primary issue here is the health of consumers; palm oil dealers’ financial concerns are secondary, though legitimate. The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) confirmed the first allegation and proceeded to sanction the offending operators. In the second issue however, a week after a group of university students publicized their research report that a cross section of palm oil operators add centipedes to the oil during production, for colour and taste, the  FDA has refuted the claim, alongside strong protests from the industry. There clearly are credibility issues that must not be ignored.

A spokesperson for the FDA indicated that the allegation is being investigated, yet she declared her partiality by rubbishing the finding. She could not concede that anyone would include centipede in palm oil, for any reason. Yes, the researchers’ allegation is serious and needs thorough investigation. I am concerned that the FDA would refute an allegation it is still investigating. Apparently, the report came from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST). Research ethics require that only legitimate reports are shared with the community. Doubtful reports can be contested; therefore, the traders are right in challenging the university to refute or substantiate the claim. One would expect the same objective stance from the FDA.

Fact is that the FDA is not the most credible and reliable agency for food safety in spite of its national mandate. A while ago, when a researcher alerted the public to the health hazards of plastics, a spokesperson from the Agency refuted the allegations, claiming that the harm is not as high as the researcher claimed. Yet, the harmful effects of Biphemol are well reported by researchers globally. Communities interested in human safety now manufacture biodegradable plastics, some of which are imported into the country. The mandate of the FDA notwithstanding, food products of questionable safety are constantly on Ghanaian market shelves. The report that centipedes are added to palm oil is alarming but not surprising.

Every consumer of Ghanaian palm oil is interested in this issue; if some producers could add bad chemicals to palm oil for colour, what prevents others from adding centipedes to the product for the same effect? Some traders and manufacturers have completely written off ethics and morality from their business catalogues. A cross-section of farmers in the country adds carbide to food products to expedite the ripening process. Such products can make consumers sick or die. Consumers are ill-informed about the potential health risks of such contaminated food products. That such contaminated products are rejected by the international market alerts the local consumer that food in the country is not safe. Ironically, outsiders will not eat it, but it is ok to sell the contaminated products to Ghanaians.

Much as I sympathize with the palm oil manufacturers and retailers, I prioritize food and human safety. It might just be that a cross section of traders is indulging in business malpractice. It could also be true that an unscrupulous competitor, local or international, desires to eliminate all competition and pave the way for a new palm oil product. Businesses engage in such unethical behavior. In the same manner, some researchers breach research ethics and disseminate false information. All the horrible scenarios I have painted above are highly possible in a country which is clearly averse to quality. Therefore, this is not the time for threats; it is time for proper investigation.

All the agencies involved have so much at stake: KNUST is a reputable research Institution which ought to abide by research ethics. It is expected to conduct legitimate research and report credible outcomes. Research from both staff and students must be above reproach. KNUST risks jeopardizing its research reputation, locally and internationally, if it allowed false reports to be published or if it its agencies compromised research ethics in any way. The Institution must spearhead the investigation and muster the intellectual integrity to confirm the authenticity or falsehood of the report in question. Should the report be found to be false, the researchers involved must be appropriately sanctioned by the Institution and its collaborators.

The FDA must strive for public confidence and live up to its mandate through impartial investigation of the allegation. It should identify the researchers and work to get the truth. If it proved beyond all doubt that the researchers lied, it must allay the fears of consumers and together with the traders, sue the offenders for defaming the traders, raising false alarm and discrediting a legitimate market product. But if the investigators reported a business malpractice, the FBA should offer a public apology and ban the offenders from trading in any food product. The Association would also apologize to the public, but it ought to bear in mind that it would do irreparable damage to its Association should the accusation be true. If it should happen that a business competitor raised the false alarm in a perverse attempt to impose a new product on consumers, the said product should be banned from the Ghanaian market for good.

Thorough investigation is the only route through which the allegation of contaminated palm oil on the market could be completely resolved. The final consumer must be kept informed of the resolution process. Nothing should be left unexplained. All contending stakeholders must provide irrefutable evidence to legitimize their claim. For the sake of the ordinary Ghanaian consumer who could suffer serious health effects for using the product, I hope the truth and nothing but the truth be told. The onus of responsibility lies on KNUST, FDA and the aggrieved Palm oil manufacturer and retailers.

Ghanaian Academia Participation in Nation Building: A Conundrum

The Member of Parliament (M.P.) for Sekondi, Mr. Kobby Otchere-Darko has accused Ghanaian academia of apathy, when it comes to nation building. The M.P. believes that a cross-section of academia could contribute constructively to national issues, but they remain quiet and allow the politician to assume more than the necessary powers, sometimes creating chaos for the nation.

I share the sentiments of the M.P but only to an extent. Whilst it is a fact that all hands must be on deck for maximised national benefits, academia does not necessarily have to be in the limelight of politics in order to contribute. The collaboration between government and academia could be constantly effective, as well as smooth, if both parties would operate on transparency and genuinely target national development. After all, academic is expected to research current issues of community and national relevance, then based on empirical evidence, recommend applicable suggestions to policy-makers. Therein lies the challenge.

Every academic and research conference would usually be opened by a minister or a person in a certain key industrial or academic position. The minister or representative would glibly inform delegates that policy-makers expect strong recommendations from the meeting. Sometimes, getting same representatives to close such meetings becomes a challenge. What is crystal clear is that recommendations from such proceeding are simply shelved by the ministers or sections which receive such, because very workable suggstions are not implemented or factored into various national development agenda. Yet that is just a part of the problem.

Research has become a major tool for national development, because it helps to thoroughly unravel issues. Serious nations have explored quality research to make inroads into crucial socio-cultural and geo-political issues, the benefits of which serious investigations are being enjoyed globally. Africa is a major beneficiary of global research, and one continues to hope that the countries therein will muster their resources and focus on research in order galvanise local solutions to African problems. A utopia!

Whereas other communities pump huge sums of money into research activities, African countries squander resources on triviality, especially four-wheeled vehicles we neither can manufacture nor effectively maintain. The discrepancy between funding for research in some of our partner countries and that of Ghana is simply pathetic, ludicrous! The discrepancy is the singular proof that this nation pays lip service to research. Typically, Ghana waits for simple issues to degenerate into chaos, then it begs outsiders to fund research. Yet, other issues exist.

Due to the concept of publish or perish among academia, research activities are on the increase. It is a fact that mediocre, and sometimes, sub-standard work is paraded as research by some academia, but there is also evidence of appreciable quality research. If Ghana genuinely sought recommendations to existing problems, it could find effective ones among researchers in Ghana, which brings me back to the sentiments expressed by the M.P.

If various research recommendations were studied and thoroughly analysed for applicability, policy-makers would be aided in handling community and national issues. There are so many projects initiated by students and academia across all learning disciplines in Ghana. Very promising projects .are locked-up in various departments and store rooms, or shelved by government agencies because neither institution nor government is interested in furthering the research. Yet, some border on critical issues such as energy conservation, recycling, solar energy, health, better learning approaches, to name five.

Ironically, academia is not even listed among key stakeholders of the 40-year Development Plan currently being trumpeted. When the host of GTV’s Talking Point questioned Dr. Nii Moi Thompson about the absence of academia, the latter answered that academia was counted among civil societies. That is not accurate. That Ghana could consider such a long-term national plan without actively involving academia is such a slight, and a telling proof of how the policy-maker belittles education and academia! In contrast, Mr. Otchere-Darko’s sentiments imply his regard for academia; I am quite sure that he would back the inclusion of academia in the stakeholders. 

Academia is not simply apathetic, at least not all of them. But it is the height of frustration to research issues, offer radical recommendations, suggest very workable remedial strategies and continuously be ignored by policy-makers who rather opt for intrepid adhoc solutions. If governments and other stakeholders genuinely desire the co-operation of academia in Ghana, they should bond through research. Government should begin by budgeting realistically for multi-disciplinary research. It should task academia to plunge into applied research for all the ailing critical situations of the country. Most importantly, government must implement the most effective and progressive recommendation from academia. I count on M.P. Otchere-Darko to support academia.

It would be refreshing indeed, if government would strategise through research and explore holistic and sustainable solutions for national crises! Dare we hope?

Vodafone Adverts: Tasteless and Repulsive

Two of Vodafone’s current advertisements are extremely nauseous due to the manner in which they disrespect elderly people and stereotype a certain Ghanaian group. Clearly, both Vodafone and its advertising agency are clueless about certain fundamental Ghanaian values as well as the potential negative implications a commercial could have. Advertisements are such powerful communication tools in the corporate world that any agency that undermines them risks its goodwill.

The first of the offensive commercials in question is the one in which an elderly man dozes during a professional meeting of a sort and a lopsided young man takes his picture and circulates among colleagues. The maniacal laughter the picture generates among old and young staff alike is a forceful reminder of the moral decadence of the contemporary Ghanaian. The irreverent attitude of the young people in the advert makes a cultured Ghanaian wince with pain and genuine sadness: Pain at the ignorance of the producers, their lack of decorum, their inability to determine the cultural difference, sadness at their poor taste. The advert would be perfect if the person who dozed was a youngster. A young subject would have created an impression of camaraderie among friends. That would have made the commercial refreshing, genuinely hilarious. Too bad both creative team and Vodafone were not savvy enough. Shameful indeed!

Considering that Vodafone has among its subscribers a burgeoning number of elderly ones, its demonstration of socio-cultural impropriety is downright disgraceful. The noxious part occurs where the elderly man is boxed left and right. The act is tantamount to those young rascals physically hitting the elderly man. In the traditional Ghanaian context, it is a taboo for a child to hit the parent. The Akans say “Panin ano ye bosom”, which literally translates, the mouth of an elderly person is a god. Within the Akan context, anyone who understands the swiftness of the gods’ punishment appreciates that proverb. When the elderly person being ridiculed sees the image and shockingly whispers, hεԑԑ, the insightful is terrified for the empty-headed laughing jackals. Any decent child/youngster who cherishes life never raises the hand against the parent. That is why the good old Book exhorts: “If you honour your father and mother, yours will be a long life, full of blessing (Ephesians 6: 3).

In the second commercial, a pest of a mother-in-law subjects her daughter-in-law to a ludicrous lecture about the needs of the former’s son. That commercial is not savvy because it is derogatory to the elderly woman as well as her tribe. It is not funny because Mrs Abrͻfosԑm epitomizes absurdity as she oozes naivety through pretentions. It is not appealing because it endorses oppression.

For a commercial from a communication entity, that advert scores so negatively for the wrong message it relays. The mother subjects the young woman to that a heartless tête-á-tête the entire day. A conscientious person wonders how much that distraction could cause the young woman to commit professional errors during the day. The torture continues at home, because the wife cannot assert herself and stop the mother-in-law. She endures under duress. Meanwhile, the weasel of a son remains in the background, cannot muster the courage to stop his bully of a mother, even when she invades their night, all because of a measly 2-day package from Vodafone! Some older folks do not sleep well at night; the mother likely belongs to that category. So if she cannot sleep, her daughter-in-law cannot sleep either, she seems to imply. That commercial highlights several negatives of the Ghanaian culture: The norm that stifles the young from voicing the fact when the elderly goes astray, the tradition that forcefully deprives the young of assertiveness, the almost dehumanizing tendency of the average Ghanaian to gulp down every injustice under the absurdity of leaving it to God to right the wrong, when God has given humans the ability to right wrongs, rectify situations in order to dignify self and others!

I am aware that nobody reads in Ghana—my apologies to Mr. Kwasi Gyan-Apenteng, the columnist—but should the Vodafone team and its advertising folks read this piece, they would know how counter-productive the 2 adverts are. The service provider has had adverts in the past that have featured the elderly in an amusing but dignified manner. Too bad it is degenerating.

Advertisements are such powerful communication tools that enhance or maim the reputation of a business. In the competitive global environment, negative advertisement is a corporate suicide. The average Ghanaian may lack the intellectual sophistication to analyse contents, but there is always the cultured minority that deconstructs such public information for quality. Generally, Ghanaian adverts tend to nauseate, and one always hopes that advertising companies will demonstrate decorum when they reach out to consumers. For that to happen, they really must study and grasp thoroughly the concept of advertising. That is a utopia for this generation which shuns knowledge for material things. Just because a person can put images together, it does not mean that s/he can package information effectively. Advertisers and corporate bodies do well to remember that huge difference. There is no conflict between animation and socio-cultural values; they are complementary.

Vodafone especially must be careful of the message it puts in the public domain, because it represents national interests. It ought to balance marketing interests with national values. Its foreign partners might attempt to heap indignities on the traditional Ghanaian system; the onus rests on the Ghanaian stakeholder to defend the national worldview. Since the commercial was made in Ghana, the question arises: Does the Ghanaian have a worldview? The answer has to be a yes, because no negates our very existence. It is about time we demonstrated that we have a worldview through all human endeavours, corporate advertisement included. Let advertisement dignify rather than commercialise human agents.

It is possible to jest in reverence. May Vodafone and other corporate bodies grasp that worthwhile  concept!

Pregnant Examination Candidates

General examination is here again with its attendant challenges. Pregnant candidates are gradually becoming a regular feature of our examinations. The Shama District in the Western has become centre of a pregnancy issue in this year's Basic Examination. A female student was not allowed to write some of the  core papers on the first day because she was pregnant. That was how the media presented the issue, creating the impression that pregnancy disqualifies a candidate. 

This is not the first time such an issue has occurred; the last few academic years have seen pregnant teenagers, some clearly showing, writing their examination without any hassle from school authorities. Clearly, the issues involved in allowing a pregnant candidate to write examination are academic, not merely moral and/or humanitarian, as some in our communities attempt to project.

To rectify the Shama situation, the Education Director has intervened and instructed that the girl be allowed to write the subsequent papers. However, the issue is not as simple as that, and the Director ought to be the first to know that. Starting on the premise that candidates are tested on cumulative information imparted to them, over a prescribed period, through structured theoretical and practical approaches, authenticated by periodic assessment and cumulative marks scored, a candidate's qualification for a particular examination would be based upon his/her satisfying, at least, certain minimum requirements of the conditions stated above.

Of course, satisfying teaching/learning requirements is a shared responsibility between teachers/school authorities, children/parents and their respective communities. Any humanitarian gesture regarding examination in such situations as the Shama one must be pragmatically balanced by the fulfillment of pre-examination teaching/learning conditions. Consequently, if the Director's decision was weighed academically, would it stand?

Already, the information has come that the girl in question did not attend school for five months, despite efforts by school authorities, apparently, due to shyness. So how much has this candidate learnt and how prepared is she for this examination? Can she really cope? Even though she would write, and even if a supplementary examination was organized for her to cover the ones she missed on the first day, could she, parents, the school and District really look forward to an appreciable result? Is the inclusion of this candidate in the examination justified?

One can appreciate the humanitarian gesture of the Director, considering the cost incurred by parents and the nation's investment in this school child. However, benevolence is not the solution here. In fact, the gesture will precipitate a number of disasters, the most obvious of which is the high probability of the candidate's failure. The gesture encourages learner's irresponsibility. Pupils are not penalized by truancy; willful protracted absenteeism is accommodated by school authorities. The discipline inculcated through regulated school attendance, diligent studies has been painfully compromised. Above all, the fundamental natural rule of choices and consequences has not been enforced. How is this girl being helped to make the right choices in life? She has already made one abysmal choice. Will she learn from her mistake?

Sometimes, enforcing discipline is the kindest gesture, the stimulant for logic, responsibility and objectivity in an individual. If the youth would grow and become human assets and not social liability, society must guide them through care, attention and gentle correction.  Effective discipline is a necessary part of human nurturing. Teaching children to respect rules by obeying them is a disciplinary path that must be followed, especially, by parents and stakeholders of education. I label the gesture of the Director as misplaced kindness, though I can understand his reason. Teach, correct and discipline children by allowing some consequences of willful disobedience. Sometimes, lessons learned the hard way yield mature and responsible individuals, the joy of every parent, teacher, friend and neighbour. 

It's all about Quality and Standards

Published in The Mirror, My Turn October 5, 2013

Dinah Amankwah (Educationist)

Admission requirements for tertiary institutions have caused a furor among a cross-section of Ghanaians. This time, the Ministry of Education insisted that the minimum entry grade is C6. D7 does not qualify entry into tertiary institutions. This stand has antagonized a lot of Ghanaians, teachers included. Opponents of C6 argue that D7 is a pass by West African Examinations Council ratings and as such should be accepted by tertiary institutions.
Minimum entry requirements have always been a rule in the Ghanaian educational system. Many are conveniently forgetting that standards require limits and when such limits are maintained, they ensure quality. When the nation ran the ordinary and advanced level systems, one needed, at least, grade six to progress from secondary to post-secondary and tertiary institutions. Then, grade 7 was a pass but grade six was credit and one needed credit to progress. Secondary schools stuck to that rule when doing sixth-form admissions and the universities abided by it. The difference between products of the educational system then and now is glaring. Yet students of both systems who have actually made good grades understand a sense of achievement in life. There was no tension regarding tertiary admission requirements. The entire nation appreciated quality then.
One finds it difficult to understand the argument for D7, which in this case, is equivalent to grade7. It is a pass not a credit. Its mark equivalent proves that. Ideally, secondary school graduates should possess a certain depth of knowledge in literacy, numeracy and science to facilitate a smooth advancement of such knowledge to the desired sophistication through tertiary education. Currently, students enter tertiary institutions with barely any appreciable knowledge in fundamental courses. English language needs a special mention here. Ghana has decided to use that language as its official medium of communication. Students across school levels are taught and assessed in that language. Textbooks are written mainly in standard English, not abridged for even students with learning disabilities. Ironically, an appreciable number of students who enter tertiary institutions cannot construct simple sentences in English; they possess barely oral skills.
Currently, among an appreciable number of Ghanaian tertiary students, English concord is on the brink of extinction. The perfect aspect of tenses is an endangered species. The difference between the possessive and plural /’s/s/ is a huge blur. Punctuation, especially, the comma is seriously under serious persecution, to mention these. Such communication handicaps manifest themselves as soon as students attempt to communicate. Their limitations make reading and research undesirable, their comprehension skills painfully and woefully inadequate. For such handicapped students, every academic transaction in English is an enormous burden. They cannot even be motivated to push themselves towards English proficiency, because it is a difficult language. Even a cursory survey reveals that majority of the students enter tertiary institutions with a minimum pass in English language. That mathematics and English language have been major learning obstacle for most Ghanaian students is not contested.
That might be one of the reasons the grades have been reviewed downwards in recent years. Has that helped the students and community? Again, I use English as a reference point. Tertiary students are taught and assessed in English language. They research utilizing English literature. Their textbooks are documented in Standard English. They are required to read and satisfy all course requirements through the English medium. The urgent question then arises: When the pass marks is reduced at the entry stage to enable students to gain admission, how are they expected to cope with regular tertiary work? The honest answer is that an appreciable number cannot.
So these students struggle through courses and graduate, at best, as functional literates. They enter the job market, across industries and sectors and perform shoddily—consequences of shallow learning, poor knowledge, a myopic worldview. Such have no appreciation for quality work. Yet one cannot fully blame them; such handicapped ones are sometimes victims of the systems. Teachers who do not teach well, oversight institutions which compromise standards and officials who endorse mediocrity create avenues for non-performers. In the end, non-performers are social liabilities. Yes, the entire nation suffers when it produces educated illiterates.
For some of these reasons, the decision to admit students who have a minimum of grade C.6 was hailed by a cross-section of educationists. Admittedly, some institutions are going to experience reduced numbers, which would in turn affect income generation. However, quality education must be the focus. If students are impressed upon to strive for better results through proper studies, they would actually study and enter tertiary institutions better prepared for advanced work. To get quality academic materials into tertiary institutions, however, basic and secondary school must be properly resourced and strictly monitored so that they would offer the desired foundation. Maintaining standards should not start at the tertiary level. It must be the foundation of education. If qualified teachers would be placed at the foundational level, if the Inspectorate Division would live up to its mandate and ensure that teachers actually teach at the basic and secondary levels, there would be adequate depth to knowledge imparted to learners at those levels. The legitimacy of such a system would be manifested in products who would learn and pass very well. When that happens, there would be no friction about minimum entry requirement because there would be adequate numbers of applicants with excellent passes. Yes, the insistence on C6 is all about quality. Compromise standards, sacrifice quality!

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  Kwame Malcolm interesting article

  Like · Reply · 9 October at 20:32