NUGA Call For Equal Job Opportunities for Polytechnic Graduates

Executive of NUGA (Middle: Mr Harrison, President of NUGA)

05-03-2012   

Employees in both the private and public sector have been urged to give equal job opportunities to graduants of Polytechnic institutions since they are the right owners of the job market. Subsequently, the state should have a policy change by placing high premium on polytechnic education as it done with the country’s universities. This was a major concern raised at the just ended public forum organized by the Non-University Graduates Association of Ghana, a registered association formed in 2008. Speaking on the theme: “The Journey To Economic Independence and the Creation of Jobs through The Implementation Of our Independent Establishment” the President of NUGA, Kojo Harrison said polytechnic education represent a vital tool in the developmental process of the country and must be strengthened to ensure that they concentrate on their core objectives, that is producing graduates with technical and vocational skills to help in the country’s industrialization and development.   Research findings from various countries, including United Kingdom clearly shows that graduates from polytechnics have better practical experience in certain fields of engineering and technology. According to him, Ghanaian polytechnics can take a cue from the reforms of the polytechnic education in United Kingdom and other developed countries, emphasizing that polytechnic education forms the basis by which a nation can be properly developed. Therefore disparities in career prospects between the so called universities and the polytechnics must be removed to help the nation inure the immense technological benefits from polytechnic education. He said with the removal of the intense misconception and barriers attached to polytechnic education, the industrial and practical training acquire by polytechnic graduates will increase their earning power. Mr. Harrison said unlike the past, the world we live has reached a level of technological advancement where technology and innovation are the key drivers for economic growth, adding that with a positive change in polytechnic education; polytechnic graduates will form the backbone of our industrialization. He said as Ghana gears up to become a major oil producing country, it has become imperative that the Education ministry and various academic bodies are mandated to restructure curricula at the nation’s polytechnics with the view to introducing new programmes aimed at producing competent graduates. On the issue of academic certification, Mr. Harrison condemned the country’s polytechnic institutions that award degrees to its graduants, describing it as unacceptable. He said contrary to the universal rules and regulations governing polytechnic education, polytechnic institutions are not obliged to run degree programmes as it is not done anywhere in the world. He however entreated polytechnic institutions to stick to their main traditions and objectives and further discard the growing misconception that University education runs high above polytechnic education.  

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