Wa Polytechnic Council inaugurated

Professor Christopher Ameyaw-Akumfi, Minister of Education, on Monday urged polytechnic-governing councils to help correct the public view that polytechnic education could be equated with that of the university. He said polytechnics should be seen as tertiary educational institutions with well-defined missions focused on equipping its products with technical and vocational skills.

Prof Ameyaw-Akumfi said this when he inaugurated a nine-member Interim Governing Council of the Wa Polytechnic, at Wa. The Council, which has Professor Jacob Sonsore, a lecturer at the University of Ghana, as Chairman, also includes Mr Paul Effah, Executive Secretary of the National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE).

The Minister advised members not to serve sectional interests but rather work towards achieving its set goals. As council members, he said, they should also understand the unique features of polytechnics to be able to effectively educate the public on them. He announced that following agitation by members of the Ghana National Union of Polytechnic Students (GNUPS), a committee on the grading system, had completed its work and its recommendations would be implemented soon.

Mr Sahanun Mogtari, Upper West Regional Minister, said the establishment of the Polytechnic and the Wa Campus of the University for Development Studies was a big relief, because more persons would have access to tertiary education in the region.

The Regional Minister noted that a large number of students from the region often dropped out of school due to the inability of their parents to bear the cost of educating them in institutions outside the region. He assured management of the two institutions that the Regional Co-ordinating Council would assist to get them well established.

The two Ministers jointly commissioned a 250 million cedi computer laboratory for the polytechnic as part of the ceremony. The Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) funded the establishment of the laboratory, which has 20 computers and eight printers.

Prof Ameyaw-Akumfi, the Regional Minister and officials of GETFund, NCTE, the polytechnic and other stakeholders also inspected the permanent site of the polytechnic at Kpongu near Wa.