Prof. Akosa calls for expansion of GIMPA programmes to all regions

Accra, Nov. 30, GNA - Professor Agyeman Badu Akosa, Former Director-General of Ghana Health Service, on Wednesday called on the management of Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) to extend its programmes to every region of the country.

This, he explained, would give the opportunity to students across the country the opportunity to access of all the undergraduate and postgraduate programmes of the Institute to reduce the high cost involved in undertaking learning programmes in Accra.

“Adjunct faculty lecturers can be employed from the pool of working doctorates and masters' holders in establishments in the regions and trained under a trainer of trainers' programme,” he recommended..

Prof. Akosa, who is now the Chief Executive Director of Healthy Ghana, was delivering a public lecture on the topic: “GIMPARIZATION of Ghana's Workforce” in Accra.

He proposed the setting up of access courses to cure any deficiency in the West Africa Senior Secondary School Certificate Examinations (WASSCE) to allow people to improve their grades and enter the universities.

“The principle of anybody in a training institution being better than the unemployed and loitering about holds true, six months weekend and evening programmes with an end examination pass must be acceptable criteria for university admission,” he said.

Prof. Akosa said GIMPA could help the country overcome the Sciences gap that had resulted from the distortions in the Science/Humanities ratio in some universities.

This, he stated, could be done by supporting the upgrade of Science Resource Centres in each region so that the laboratories would be used during holidays by GIMPA science graduates.

Professor Akosa said the institution could also run summer school sessions during holidays on pre-arranged campuses and polytechnics for interactive and analytical sessions with practicals for the science undergraduates.

He urged GIMPA to position itself as the Centre for Policy Analysis to complement the work of the National Development and Planning Commission.

“It must be possible for GIMPA every two years to establish the nation's interest through sampling of the views of students through policy analysis and discussion as well as dissemination platform to give meaning to the "Gimparization" of Ghana's workforce,” he noted.

GNA