National Policy Dialogue on tertiary education calls for reforms

Participants at a National Policy Dialogue on Tertiary Education in Ghana, in Accra, have called for a tertiary education plan to ensure that sector contributes meaningfully to the country's development.

The vision and plan must be formulated and agreed upon by key stakeholders such as National Development Planning Commission, Ministries, Departments and Agencies, regulatory bodies, tertiary institutions, industry, Metropolitan Municipal and District Assemblies, think tanks, national research councils, professional bodies and civil society.

These suggestions were made in a communiqué issued by participants at the dialogue organised by the Ministry of Education and the National Council for Tertiary Education (NTCE) in partnership with TrustAfrica, Senegal.

The two-day dialogue was on the theme: “Repositioning Tertiary Education for National Development.

The communiqué said the vision and plan for tertiary education must be anchored on the overall national development vision and plan, which should promote research and innovation.

“The plan must provide for a diversified and differentiated mix of institutions with a clear mandate, characterised by robust and relevant knowledge production focus.

“Centres of excellence should be established in tertiary institutions to focus on strategic areas for national development.

“With the proliferation of tertiary education institutions, there is the need to develop strong governance and leadership structures that will ensure accountability and realisation of the full potential of the sector,” it added.

In addressing the challenges of graduate employability, the participants acknowledged that part of the problem has to do with the structure of the economy which is unable to absorb graduates.

They called on government to articulate and promote an industrial policy that will lead to the diversification of the economy, which should among other things, promote the manufacturing sector.

The participants urged that an appropriate policy framework should be put in place to ensure a well-differentiated national tertiary education system that will ensure steady production of a workforce with the right mix of skills.

They said government should also provide a policy framework that will encourage and foster participation of the private sector in skills development for the teeming youth of the country.

In the next five years, the dialogue concluded, government should prioritise research and innovation, and skills development to address the problem of graduate unemployability.

The communiqué acknowledged that there is over-reliance on Government for funding tertiary education and to address the problem it was resolved that stakeholders in sector should develop a sustainable funding policy for higher education.

This policy should include mechanisms for diversified funding.

It was recognised that currently there is no institutionalised platform where national stakeholders on the higher education sector could come together to share ideas, information, discuss challenges, propose solutions and build consensus and ownership around a common agenda.

To overcome the challenge, it was resolved that the NCTE in partnership with other key stakeholders should hold a biennial national summit on higher education development.

“This will institutionalise regular interactions among stakeholders in the sector.

The aim of the dialogue was to build a national multi-stakeholders' platform for transformation of tertiary education in Ghana; Identify issues that require policy research; and constitute multi-stakeholder-working groups that will work on various thematic policy issues with the aim of making inputs into a government White Paper on tertiary education.

The dialogue was attended by 150 participants including President John Dramani Mahama, who was represented by Professor Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang, Minister of Education.

The participants observed that there is no comprehensive national policy on tertiary education in Ghana.

“In the last decade, Ghana has experienced an exponential increase in access to tertiary education. Vigorous participation of the private sector, distance learning opportunities coupled with an increase in the number of programmes mainly in business and administration, account for the trend.

“The growth in the number of tertiary education institutions and programmes is not adequately guided by policies on differentiation and diversity nor targeted at addressing specific national needs.

“Some higher education institutions have diverted from their original missions, resulting in “mission creep.”

This has contributed to the production of many university graduates, whose skills do not meet the needs of the labour market, resulting in the crisis of graduate unemployment.

Admission, they agreed, policies have also failed to address the imbalance between science and technology programmes and the humanities.

There is low research and post-graduate output as well as lack of innovation in science and technology.

“In the management of Higher Education Institutions, strong governance and leadership are required to foster institutional conditions that would support quality teaching and research for the attainment of institutional mission and vision.

“There is no policy to guide private-participation in tertiary education.”

Story by Ghana/GNA