The Bolgatanga Polytechnic in the Upper
East Region on Tuesday matriculated 498 students to pursue various Higher
National Diploma (HND) programmes during the 2009/2010 academic year.
Out of the 498 matriculates, 121 were females representing 24 per cent
of total admission.
One hundred and twenty-nine students were also admitted to pursue
various professional courses at the non-tertiary level and another 36 have
been enrolled to undertake the pre HND Access Course.
The Rector of the Polytechnic, Professor Paul B. Tanzubil announced this
during the matriculation of the students at Sumburungu near Bolgatanga.
The Rector expressed concern about low enrolment in the sciences and
said only 25 per cent of the fresh students would be pursuing courses in
that area which is of greater priority to polytechnics.
He attributed this problem to the fact that Science was poorly
patronized and only few students aspired beyond the Senior High School
level.
Professor Tanzubil therefore called on stakeholders in education in the
Region to redouble their efforts in the teaching of the sciences saying low
patronage for the sciences would have a replicating effect on the
technological advancement and development of the country.
He explained that as part of measures to address the problem, the
Management of the Polytechnic would organize a regional conference before
the close of the year to deliberate on the state of science and technology
education in the Upper East Region and devise strategies to address it.
The Rector said the Polytechnic would introduce HND Programmes in
Procurement and Logistic Management and Building Technology during the
2010/2011 academic year adding that following the passage of the Polytechnic
Act in 2007, the Polytechnic now had the autonomy to award its own
certificates, diploma and Degrees, which would soon start.
Professor Tanzubil stated that the Polytechnic which currently runs HND
courses in Applied Art and Science, Business and Management Studies and
Engineering had significantly improved in the quality and quantity of its
human resource base and noted that currently the school had academic staff
strength of about 70 percent of which 60 percent have second degrees or
professional qualifications.
He indicated that the school was confronted with some challenges which
include poor conditions of service for staff, inadequate infrastructure, and
very low annual budgetary allocation.
He said the situation where allocation of resources to tertiary
institutions was based on student numbers was inimical to the growth of
young institutions like Bolgatanga Polytechnic and needed to be reviewed.
He stressed the need for the implementation of the single spine salary
structure to adequately address the current disparities in the salaries
among staff serving in the various categories of tertiary education.
The founder Principal of the Polytechnic, Mr. Robert Ajene, asked for
the need for graduates from polytechnics to effectively study
entrepreneurship because one of the cardinal roles of polytechnics was to
provide the requisite manpower for development of the nation.
He noted that there were graduates who had completed tertiary
institutions and because of the lack of entrepreneurship skills, they are
unemployable