Polytechnics now empowered to award degrees

Polytechnics in the country have now been empowered to run Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) programmes following the passage of a new Polytechnic Act to that effect.

A speech read on behalf of President J.A. Kufuor by the Minister of Education, Science and Sports, Papa Owusu Ankomah, at the sixth congregation of the Takoradi Polytechnic at the weekend said the act would also allow for further progression of holders of the Higher National Diploma (HND) along the academic ladder.

Nine hundred and fifty graduands, comprising 741 males and 209 females, passed out.

President Kufuor said "the act also introduced an innovation which gave academic autonomy to the polytechnics to introduce programmes in areas of comparative advantage to each polytechnic, taking into account regional needs and national aspirations.

He said the government was undertaking policy initiatives to ensure that the polytechnics and other sister institutions functioned as envisaged in order to help attain national development goals.

The President said the government, through the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund), would continue to invest considerable amounts to provide physical infrastructure and other facilities to enhance teaching and learning on the various polytechnic campuses.

He announced that for the 2007 financial year, the government had allocated ¢13.8 billion to the Takoradi Polytechnic for development projects.

Currently, he said, the GETFund was funding the construction of a hostel block which would house up to 400 students on the campus of the School of Business Studies at Butumagyebu,

President Kufuor stated that for the country to succeed there was the need to revitalize the mission of the polytechnics.

"You have achieved a lot, but remember that continued innovation and the permanent desire to achieve excellence lie at the heart of national renewal and transformation," President Kufuor explained.

The Chairman of the Polytechnic Council, Professor Daniel Mireku-Gyimah, said in the last five years the government ad continued to provide funds, through buildings and the provision of learning facilities at the polytechnic.

He assured the GETFund Board that the Polytechnic council was committed to ensuring that all projects in the polytechnic were executed properly and at approved costs.

Accordingly, the Council had resolved not to accept any shoddy work and also not to tolerate undue delay of projects in the polytechnic, Professor Mireku-Gyimah said.

Credit: Daily Graphic