Tertiary institutions must embrace technology not merely as an instrument of efficiency, but as a strategic aid in safeguarding quality education delivery, the Vice-President, Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, has charged.

She stressed that the future of Ghana would depend not simply on the number of graduates produced, but on their quality, their character, creativity and capacity to solve the complex challenges of our time.

“Therefore, let us ensure that innovation strengthens, not diminishes the values of integrity, inclusiveness, academic freedom, and excellence upon which higher education is built,” she stressed.

Professor Opoku-Agyemang made the remarks in a speech read on her behalf at the opening ceremony of the third summer school and maiden GTEC meritorious awards at the Great Hall, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, last Thursday.

Summer school

Organised by the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTECT), the event was on the theme: “Quality Assurance in Higher Education: Leveraging Technology to safeguard education quality amid rising student enrolment”.

As part of the event, the GTEC meritorious award was also launched ,when the Vice Chancellor of KNUTE, Professor Rita Akosua Dickson, was presented with the maiden award for her contributions to higher education delivery.

Tertiary education system

Prof. Opoku-Agyemang said universities must increasingly become centres of excellence that nurture innovation, entrepreneurship and practical problem-solving.

“Together, let us build a tertiary education system that is globally respected, technologically advanced, research-driven, and responsive to the aspirations of our people” the Vice-President pointed out.

“The graduates they produce must equally be equipped not only with academic knowledge but also with digital interests, creativity, ethical leadership, resilience, and an entrepreneurial mindset that will enable them to thrive in the fourth industrial revolution” she said.

She added that quality assurance was a shared responsibility as the government, GTEC, government governing councils, university leadership, faculty, students, professional workers, employers, and development partners must all work together to cultivate a culture of excellence, accountability, innovation and continuous improvement.

Prof. Opoku-Agyemang said the government would continue to support GTEC in executing its mandate, while making investments in digital infrastructure, research, innovation, institutional capacity development and quality assurance.

“We will also strengthen collaboration among universities, industry, research institutions and development partners to ensure that knowledge generated within our universities contributes directly to national development and economic transformation” she added.

The keynote speaker, Professor Abel Idowu Olayinka, a former Vice-Chancellor, University of Ibadan, called for increased investment in education in Sub-Saharan African countries despite other competing demands.

Further, he charged tertiary institutions to leverage more on technology to ensure provision of education amid the rising enrolment, saying “institutions should invest more in technology and develop policy for responsible use of Artificial Intelligence in teaching, learning and research”.

Prof. Olayinka added that education and training in the 21st Century should provide skilled and competent workers for the formal and informal sectors of the economy, stressing “education must meet the needs of new industries and production patterns.”

Distance education

Speaking briefly on distance education delivery with reference to fees and quality delivery, the Director-General, GTEC, Professor Ahmed Jinapor Abdulai, said in principle, the commission was not against Distance Education as a mode of augmenting traditional educational delivery at the tertiary level.

However, he said the commission was strongly against Distance Education characterised by staff and faculty trotting across the country to teach in secondary schools and in some instances using church premises for such purposes.

He announced that GTEC had placed a temporary freeze on the accreditation of new distance learning centres as it worked towards a review of all policies and practices guiding such mode of tertiary education delivery in the country.