Ghana’s Education System Needs Complete Overhaul: CEO Of Ghana Association of Bankers Calls For Change

• A banker is worried about what to him seems like too much emphasis on theory at Ghana's tertiary level
• John Awuah, CEO of the Ghana Association of Bankers said it was wrong for the University of Ghana to recognise only PhD holders as full-time lecturers
• His comment on Facebook has attracted many comments, most of which support his call for an overhaul of Ghana's education system

CEO of the Ghana Association of Bankers John Awuah has stoked a debate about Ghana's education system, which he says prioritises PhDs over field experience.

The Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (UK) said Ghana's education system needs a complete overhaul to serve society's needs properly.

"Why do you need a PhD to qualify to lecture at the University of Ghana, Legon? Will a PhD holder who is a purely academic lecturer be better than someone with a Masters degree with extensive industrial exposure? he quizzed in a detailed post on Facebook on Wednesday, July 20, 2022.

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He said the deep-rooted preference for theoretical knowledge by universities, even for highly practical subjects, spells doom for national progress.

"Who's better qualified to lecture on Business Strategy, Business Policy, Management, Auditing, Financial Reporting, Business Finance, Taxation, Corporate Planning, etc.?

"Is it the Professor who has never stepped foot in the corporate world and is purely academic and theoretical or the Masters holder with professional qualification who has had tremendous corporate exposure at various managerial levels in an organisation in the relevant field? I will put my money on the Masters holder and leave the Professor behind," he stated.

He wants Ghana's education system in general and universities in particular to practicalise education. He added that this can be achieved when universities hire lecturers who have a rich field experience in what they are teaching.

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"The lecturer who taught me Entrepreneurship at Oxford Brookes University was an Entrepreneur and not a PhD holder. I still remember what he taught us in that class today because he was practical and used real-life experiences he had gone through and not some hypothetical examples our so-called Professors are used to," he shared a personal experience.

He said in Ghana, the education system was merely producing graduates who could reproduce theories and get grades but could not operate in practical settings.

"This must change," he admonished.

His post on Facebook has attracted over 100 comments, many agreeing with his point of view.

Edmund Awaitey said his post was spot on:

"Excellent exposition. The complementary role between academia and industrial experience cannot be overestimated in national development."

Linda Yeboah Asante said the banker couldn't have said it better:

"Exactly. A business management and entrepreneurship lecturer who has never started and run any business be it successfully or not. Just pouring out theories they can't confidently defend."

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However, Robert Ebo Hinson, a lecturer at the University of Ghana, disagrees with John Awuah:

"This assertion is challenged on multiple levels...Those of you on LinkedIn and are minded to, can read my copious rebuttals to this assertion on that platform. Good Morning and a blessed day to us all!!!!"

IMANI Fellow Predicts Free SHS Policy Will Soon Destroy All Public Secondary Schools

YEN.com.gh reported in a separate story that a fellow of think tank IMANI Centre for Policy and Education, Bright Simons, has said the future looks bleak for the public secondary schools under the Free SHS policy.

He tweeted on Thursday, July 14, 2022, that because the policy is steeped in politics, no government after Nana Akufo-Addo leaves office would be able to touch it.

The social innovator and scientist said the Free Senior High School policy will soon suffer the same fate as the government-run primary schools that are usually seriously deprived, known popularly as "syto."

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Source: YEN.com.gh