Nearly Fifty percent(50%) of Students who applied for admission at the Koforidua Technical University (KTU) have been rejected by the Institution in the 2018/2019 academic season due to strict enforcement of policy directive by the National Council for Tertiary Eucation(NCTE) and National Accreditation Board(NAB).
The policy says students who posses grade D-7 and E8 in either English, Mathematics or Science are ineligible to be admitted .
The University received applications for admission from 4427 applicants but only 2951 qualified according to NCTE and NAB standard despite the rest having good grades, but with D-7 or E-8 in one of the core subjects.
Although the cut off point for admissions into tertiary institution is aggregate 30, some students with aggregate 15 or better, are denied admissions because they may have E-8 or D-7, in one of the three main core subjects . Ironically, some applicants may posses aggregate 24 or 30 from the five subjects but may get admissions per the dictate of the Policy because they did not get D-7 and bellow in any of the core subjects.
Previously, students with aggregate D-7 and E-8 were given conditional admission which they were assisted to resit the WASSCE exams to better their grades while pursuing their tertiary programs, but that grace policy has been cancelled denying many brilliant and average students opportunity to enroll in tertiary education.
The Vice Chancellor of KTU, Prof. Smile Gavua Dzisi is worried that should this directive remain, most beneficiaries of the laudable government Policy- Free Senior High School will end up in the street.
“It is significant to note that this year, the University used the approved requirements from NCTE and NAB strictly in admitting students.This means 50% of applicants who have just a D7 or E8 in Mathematics or English could not be admitted .The fate of these applicants in the years ahead is not known,Perhaps most of them will end up on the street”.
The Vice Chancellor of the University, Prof. Smile Dzisi said this during the 23rd matriculation ceremony .She appealed for a review of the directive ” it is against this backdrop that i wish to add my voice to that of the Honourable Minister of State for Tertiary Education ,Prof.Kwasi Yakah,for the regulatory bodies to take a second look at the admission requirements and consider accepting D7 and E8 for competency Based Training (CBT) programmes offered in Technical Universities “.
The Vice Chancellor meanwhile, called on government to increase investment in Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) since it is the surest way of curbing unemployment in the country and meeting the needs of industries particularly the One -District -One factory policy.
“TVET for sustainable Development is very expensive and as a Country we need to invest heavily in it to reap its full benefit “.
She, however, announced that, KTU has won a €60,000 from German Academic Exchange Service(DAAD) under its International Mobility Program(ICM) for mutual capacity building between KTU and University of Applied Sciences,Mitttelhessan Germany.
Again, another €200,000 DAAD grant between KTU and Hamm-Lippstadt University of Applied Science in Germany continuous to impact positively on the University.
The Director for Center for Scientific Research into Plant and Herbal Medicine ,Prof.Augustine Ocloo ,who was the Guest Speaker urged government to prioritize Science ,Technology and Technical education in the country to help stimulate the development of the country.
He therefore said ,the ” idea of establishing a National Research Fund is long overdue”.
Source: Ghana/Starrfmonline.com/103.5fm/Kojo Ansah
