Change Your Admission Systems To Allow More Students Enrollment-Education Minister Urges KNUST
The Minister of Education, Hon Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum has appealed to the Governing Board of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology to reconsider the rigid application of admission tenets and relax the requirements for certain categories in the sciences to pursue their desired courses.
Speaking after a swearing-in ceremony in Accra of the new board members, the minister bemoaned the iron-fenced admission requirements that hinder certain students to rise up to achieve their dreams academically.
“I want you to change the processes of admission to allow more students in the sciences to do engineering, architectural and medical courses once the person passes his core subjects and please often the rigid application of the laid down requirements.
If it’s possible let me provoke a national debate to allow for a preliminary or in-house one-year course of the subject in dispute so that a lot more people can enroll at the university. Better still, it is far better to allow a student to use five years to arrive at his heart desire to graduate than to obstruct them per their poor performance in a particular subject especially in the sciences”
He postulated that as a country we need to produce 10% engineers, doctors, and architects annually to achieve our industrial revolution we envisage. ” I had an encounter with a student who was refused admission as a result of his poor pass in mathematics but travelled to the US to become a brilliant medical doctor. So we must modify our ways of admitting students not to leave our children out academically”
The minister charged the Board Members to be progressive and come out with pragmatic ideas, policies, and programs that will help sharpen the quest to transform the outlook of the country. “As one of the best universities in Ghana, you have an onerous duty to lead the course to be an industrialized country per your focus and programs.
He said KNUST is a popular university not only in Ghana but worldwide with academic records and asked the board to build on it. “Ghana is on the path of indutrialisation and you have a key role as a scientific and technological university to enable us get there “.
The minister congratulated them on their appointment and assured them of his readiness to work together to achieve the desired goals. In his acceptance speech, the Board Chairman, Nana Effah Apenteng thanked the president and the minister for the great honour done them that enjoins them to live up to their responsibility.
Nana said they understand the enormous task ahead of them especially the preparedness of the country to industrialise and transform the country’s economy. Nana admitted that the suggestion put across by the minister would be considered as he agrees it has been a stumbling block to many prospective Ghanaians to acquire academic laurels.
The board has a thirteen-member representation from the academia, professional bodies, intelligentsia, alumni, CHASS, and SRC representative with Nana Effah Appenteng as the Chairman for the second time running.
Source: Nana Poku/johnawuniktv@gmail.com
