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A retired educationist and former board member of the Council For Technical  and Vocational Training(COTVET), Ebenezer Acquaah Harrison  has bemoaned  the hast  in upgrading  polytechnics into technical universities , describing it as a strategy by the current government to score some political points.

He believes that the    Mahama government’s policy of turning polytechnics into technical universities without following the concepts precipitating the establishment of the polytechnics would lead to a total failure.

 Mr Adu Koranteng, a Journalist with the New Crusading Guide (NCG) had an opportunity to speak with 85 year old Ebenezer Acquaah Harrison at his ranch in Samanpe on the edge of the Dayi River at Wadze in the South Dayi District of the Volta Region.

NCG:

Do you think the conversion of the Polytechnics into technical Universities can help realize the goal of empowering graduates with real entrepreneurial skills to establish and grow their businesses?

EAHarrison-

There are both social and cultural reasons for upgrading the polytechnics to technical universities. The social reason is that both teachers and students of the polytechnics don’t feel comfortable with their status and the cultural reason is image credibility. For instance, when children are born their  parents don’t tell them  to either be laborers or doctors  in future; they  decide what they  will do as they  grow. However, in the case of technical and vocational education, we have made a law that put students from these institutions into the pidgin hole to struggle in life after school. So from the beginning there is a negative thinking about the image and status rather than the real reasons why they Polytechnics and technical institutions were created.

 The idea of upgrading the polytechnics into technical universities has become a political issue and not the main reason for establishing polytechnics around industries.

Polytechnics are industry based not academic based. For that reason nobody has the right to say that the purpose of polytechnics is to serve or develop middle level managers.

Polytechnic students are trained to fill any position that their skills and ability can take them.

The idea   behind technical schools and polytechnics is that they are created around industries but in this country that never happened. An example of creating an industry around human is the need for food and based on that we must develop and advance agriculture. The need for clothing calls for a textile industry. The need for jewelry calls for gold and metal refineries.  So if polytechnic education is not built around industries like this to train people to fill in the positions and gaps then the purpose is defeated. For me the polytechnics were converted into technical universities without due course.

Entrepreneurship requires that professionals understand management, that’s bookkeeping, marketing and communication alongside technical training. This is not being done in Ghana. so from the word go the polytechnics are deficient from the real purpose.

In England where we copied the idea, policies were established for the industries and there were specialists in their areas and their councils are made up of representatives from the various industries and not anybody from anywhere. These professionals set the standards by the industries not the academia.

When the technical institutions were converted to polytechnics years ago, they dismissed all the skilled teachers and employed university graduates but these graduates couldn’t demonstrate the practical skills.

NCG:

How would you describe technical education in Ghana Today”?

EAHarrison

Technical education is not being done properly so it’s not advancing. It has become a complete waste of time and resources. Technical institutions and polytechnics are established around industries to train and transfer skills and knowledge; without that it’s a waste of time.

The German system of polytechnic education as prescribed by Nana Addo Danquah Akufo Addo, flagbearer of the NPP   allows students to undergo practical attachment for at least a year but that does not happen here in Ghana. So if we are serious about advancing technical and vocational education, then we must be serious about apprenticeship.

The polytechnics or the so called technical universities should produce resourceful graduates who will make industries work not producing middle level managers.

NCG: -What is wrong with the present system?

 The present system of elevating polytechnics to technical universities has been poorly done without considering the resources of the polytechnics in every region.

I remember a research I did with the late Budu Smith, former Director General of the Ghana Education Service between 2004 and 2005. In that research we realized that 40% of industries are located in Accra and Tema. 20% of the industries are located in the Ashanti region and 20% in the Western region while the remaining 20% is shared among the other seven regions. So if government wants technical and vocational education to serve the purpose of providing solutions to industrial needs in the country, then they should rationalize the system in a way that they can share their weaknesses and strengths together. This idea of regional balance to create university in every region is waste of time and money. Where are the industries to train the students? In Ho For instance, there are no industries to train the students so when you create a technical university in places like Ho, Koforidua Sunyani and the three northern regions where they don’t have industries how would they operate and survive.

 In my view as an expert in technical education and former president of the Association of Ghana Industries, I thought the government would have taken the opportunity to rationalize the creation of technical universities for the south and north only with campuses in other regions” with the northern one in Kumasi with campuses in Tamale, Sunyani, Wa and Bolgatanga and students would be dispatched in teams to undertake industrial attachment in Kumasi and the other parts of the Ashanti Region. The southern one could be in either Accra or Takoradi with campuses in Koforidua Cape coast and Ho   to have access to resources in Southern Ghana to grow.

In Sekondi Takoradi for instance, the railway point at Ketan is a complete factory that did everything a steel factory could do. The place is noted for training the first engineers in Ghana like Baffour, Hayford Acquah and the rest. Though it exists, the place has deteriorated and I urge government to set up a committee to investigate and restore it into a modern factory to serve the needs of the technical universities.

NCG: What will be the implication if government decides to ignore your advice?

Government says it is expecting a loan of US$ 150 million from the African Development Bank to equip the technical universities with state of the art equipments. When we did our survey, the industries we contacted wanted government to buy them modern equipments to improve their manufacturing capacity which they will subsequently reimburse. I believe that this is the way forward if we really want technical education to work.  A huge chunk of the loan should be given to the industries as loan to buy and operate state of the art equipments that will provide skills to students on attachments and jobs when they graduate. Even if the technical institutions are equipped and industries are not equipped where will the students go and work after graduation. We don’t teach people with state of the art equipments to go and work where there are no state of the art equipments. If government wants to really help local industries grow and expand their territories then it must assist industries to grow. I expect government to order over one hundred cars from Kanaka, Apostle Kwadwo Sarfo to prove a point to Ghanaians that it is committed to industrial development. Strong institutions are built with strong men who are passionate and committed not just ordinary men?

I am offering a professional advice not a political advice to government. I have never had any patronage from any political party apart from a government of Ghana Scholarship. I had to go and study in London in 1952. On my return I helped set up the Ghana Standards Board, which is now an authority, I also helped set up the Accra Stock exchange and was board member of COTVET until it was dissolved.