Professor George Oduro, the Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast (UCC), has called for a paradigm shift in science education from theory to practical application to help solve national problems.
He said science education should go beyond learning scientific theories, facts and technical skills to equipping students to understand and situate scientific and technological development in their economic, cultural, political and social context.
Prof Oduro said this during the opening of the Seventh Annual Congress of the Ghana Biochemistry Students Association in Cape Coast.
The conference, sponsored by Virgin Coconut Oil and attended by students from the universities of Ghana, Cape Coast, Development Studies and the KNUST, was on the theme; “Positioning the Biochemists in Modern Scientific society for effective nation building”.
Prof. Oduro said countries such as China, Japan and South Korea had gained recognition because of their scientific and technological prowess, and that those countries had done so because of their earlier huge investment in science, technology, education and human capital.
He, therefore, challenged students to turn the challenges they faced in their various departments into opportunities to enable them to aspire as professional biochemists to help build the society.
Prof. Oduro commended the association for providing the yearly platform to establish mentor-mentee relationship between students and professionals and collaborations between sister universities.
He urged them to look for possible ways to establish linkages with international biochemist students to provide them with foreign exposure in their quest for nation building and open opportunities for using external support in terms of equipping laboratories and students exchange programmes.
He challenged the students to research more into edible oils and sugar- free drinks to determine whether they were really good for human consumption.
Dr Kaku Kyiamah, the Chief Executive Officer of Virgin Oil, who educated participants on the various edible oils, said hypertension and obesity were caused by unsaturated vegetable fats which contained high levels of poly unsaturated omega 3 fatty acids.
He cited highly technical research data to show that different kinds of diseases, and ailments including headache/migraine and menstrual pains were due to the long chain poly unsaturated omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids from processed unsaturated vegetable oils which was eaten by almost everyone.
He said edible oils were essential for good health stressing that good edible oils such as tropical saturated oils could prevent many different diseases such as migraine, white and menstrual pains, infertility, diabetes, neural problems, viral attacks and congenital diseases.
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