Public Agenda (Accra)
5 June 2009
editorial
In an article published on page seven of today's edition of this newspaper, Prof. K. O. Kessey, a retired engineering professor of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) has outlined strong and convincing reasons why science education, especially at the tertiary level is on the decline.
In his view, engineering science and technology have suffered and continue to suffer the most due to the establishment of several disciplines on the KNUST campus which compete for the already slender government subvention to the University. It is a known fact that to train engineers in particular requires very expensive, physical inputs unlike other disciplines.
According to the Prof. the old-age principle of equal share of scarce resources in order to allow every department of government-supported University equal opportunity for growth, though laudable in principle, is in practice gradually killing the unique character of promoting Science and Technology at KNUST for which the university was established.
This newspaper agrees with Prof. Kessey that though the presence of several departments may be a stimulus for broadening the outlook and education of the individual, the conglomeration of departments at KNUST has now blurred the initial vision of its founding fathers since such departments have competed equally for resources with the original establishments of the University, to the detriment of Engineering Education.
The net result is the use of obsolete equipment at the school of engineering of KNUST which is collapsing or dying a slow death. Obviously, with large numbers, students hardly benefit from workshop technology, for example, when unduly large student numbers crowd around one demonstration unit, thus leading to a natural fall in standards.
KNUST seems to be deviating every year from its original objective of promoting Science and Technology for which it was established.
The situation at KNUST is not the only one. Engineering and technology courses at the other universities and Polytechnics also receive little support. Little wonder that the country is unable to produce good engineers for the development of the economy. As Prof. Kessey noted engineering is indeed one of the gigantic backbones of every nation's physical development.
This is evident in all the so-called Third World Countries, now probably called 'Second World', that are making leap jumps in development today. The reason why Ghana has become a net importer of everything, including toothpicks from her contemporaries like South Korea, Malaysia, Sinagpore, China, Thailand etc must now be clear to all Ghanaians.
Our penchant for buying and selling or installing imported goods is fueling the neglect of science and technology education by our policy makers. Under the present circumstances, as Prof. Kessey points out, there are no visible training grounds or incubators in the country for our engineering students and fresh graduates to thrive.
In this regard, all stakeholders in education should take equal blame in having inadvertently subjugated science and technology to other fields.
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