Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA), Professor Charles Barnor has charged public universities and university teachers to brace themselves for an increase in enrolment owing to the Free SHS policy.
It is expected that the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER), which is defined as the Total Tertiary Enrolment divided by the population, would dramatically increase as a result of the implementation of the FSHS policy, and Ghanaian public universities are therefore being urged to come up with measures to deal with the anticipated upsurge in numbers.
Prof. Barnor was speaking at an event at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), organized by the National Executive Committee of the University Teachers Association of Ghana. The program was under the theme, “Towards receiving the first batch of Free SHS students into the public universities of Ghana: The role of the university and the university teacher.”
It was chaired by the Vice-Chancellor of KNUST, Professor Kwasi-Obiri Danso.
The Pro-Vice-Chancellor of UPSA believes that there is the need to keep the dream of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo alive, by ensuring that the free SHS policy and its benefits such as social justice are achieved by putting in action to ensure massive student intake starting from the 2020/2021 academic year.
He called on the Government to invest into Educational Technologies to complement the old brick and mortar approach of teaching and learning, pointing that such investment will shift the onus on university management and teachers to embrace change.
Prof. Barnor recommended that public universities in Ghana should intensify their technology integration, embark on curriculum adaptations and continuously explore new approaches to developing lecturers and facilities for improved institutional effectiveness.
Click here for the full Speech.
