Developing Technical Universities Requires Quality Assurance

A Quality Assurance Specialist has said incorporating quality assurance into technical education was imperative to the growth of technical universities and the African continent.

Dr Violet Makuku, Quality Assurance Specialist and Project Officer, Harmonization of African Quality Assurance and Accreditation (HAQAA) Initiative Project of the Association of African Universities (AAU) said building tertiary institutions was no longer luxuries for the continent but a 'national and continental policy critical for Africa's development and global competitiveness'.

Dr Makuku who was speaking at the Ho Technical University Second Vice Chancellor's Distinguished Lecture on the theme, 'Quality Assurance Issues in Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET): Technical Universities in Perspective' said quality and relevance of university education had emerged as serious concerns for various industries.

She said technical universities had the ability of discovering talents and equipping them to become major drivers of economies and turning countries into well-deserved business destinations.

Dr Makuku commended Ghana for converting polytechnics to universities and underscored the need to constantly improve the university system in terms of student training to improve on graduate quality.

She called for the harmonization of the various bodies in charge of academics to ensure uniformity and appealed to industries to liaise with technical institutions for mutual benefit instead of shunning them as average institutions.

Professor Emmanuel K. Sakyi, Vice Chancellor, Ho Technical University, said quality assurance was the Institution's benchmark and asked the lecturers to be inspired by values of the University.

He said the annual lecture was a series meant to offer new insights and generate ideas for future research.

GNA
By Sumaiya Salifu Saeed, GNA