A researcher, Dr Bob Offei Manteaw has called on the Ghana Student Loan Trust Fund to ignore proposals to consider granting loans to students whose programme of study has immediate market value.
Dr. Manteaw who is the Principal and Senior Research Collaborator at the Centre for Advanced Learning Innovation and Business-University Partnerships (CALIBUP) gave the warning in an interview with the Ghana News Agency
He said it threatens to undermine the value of some programmes of study in the academic institutions.
According to him, while he does not dispute the fact that certain programmes of study have higher market value than others, it does not warrant such discriminatory approaches in the treatment of students.
“At best, all programmes of study must be treated as valuable in their own rights and left to the markets to determine their competitive advantages.”
He cautioned the country to be careful in defining the value of education in economic terms since narrow economic rationalities and market-based valuation of educational programmes could be dangerous to the future of the development of education, particularly higher education.
Dr Manteaw said: “As a country we must approach all forms of education and every course of study as important. We cannot at this point be selective in what courses we consider relevant or not to national development.”
He noted that all courses of study are important and have market-value, adding: “It is up to the government to create a dynamic and accommodating economy that allows graduates to be creative and responsive to market demands.”
Dr Manteaw asked: “Is there market value in Theatre Arts as a course of study in the University? Is there market value in Physical Education as a course of Study? Is there market value in Sanitation Management?”
He said: “if you want answers to the questions look at people like Kweku Sintim Mensah, Uncle Ebo Whyte and Soccer Coach Bashiru who studied Physical Education in Cape Coast University. Also look at what Dr Agyepong and how his Zoomlion Group are doing.”
He said what these people have done and continue to do in the society should challenge our thinking and perceptions of courses of study so as not to define the value based on employability and empty economic rationalities that ignore the socio-cultural significance.
He said the only reason employment and employability have become such defining issues, is because Ghana has a very rigid economy that has no space and place for alternative skills.
“If you are not a doctor, a teacher or an accountant, a nurse then you are not employable.”
Dr Manteaw refered to such thinking as inimical to national development and should be discouraged.“This is exactly what the Africa Resilience Collaborative (ARC’s) and CALIBUP is set up to do.”
He said the centre is an offshoot of the ARC’s education and capacity building works in Africa and seeks to establish stronger and meaningful partnerships between universities, the private sector, and civil society.
Dr Manteaw said the centre would lead and champion innovation in learning as well as facilitate direct uptake of academic research to influence public policy as well as private sector growth.
He noted that effective and timely uptake of academic research drives innovation and development everywhere. Dr Manteaw said ARC’s would connect students pursuing different academic programmes in the country with the requisite private sector businesses and industries both within and beyond the country for internship, cooperative learning and experiential training.
He said: “There is currently a disconnect between academia and industry in Ghana and most of Africa and CALIBUP, as a research and learning innovation organization, is seeking to close that gap. “Simply, CALIBUP seeks to connect the natural intelligence of Ghana’s youth to real life experiences.”
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