Rector of the Ghana Institute of Journalism, Dr Wilberforce Sefakor Dzisah is appealing to the Ministry of Finance to grant the institute the financial clearance to replace staff following approval by the Public Services Commission (PSC) in January this year.

He said the current total staff strength stands at 80 and the size of school’s faculty is 24, a situation he described as impacting negatively on the overall output of the institute.

The institute, he explained, has been grappling with staffing challenges due to constraints in replacing staff who have either retired, passed away or left the employment of the institute.

Dr Dzisah, however, admitted that the school has made some notable strides in its human resource development efforts.

“From just one PhD holder from 2009-2013, the institute’s staff development plan has produced some modest results. The institute now has eight full-time PhD holders, with additional six expected to complete their programmes in 2018. “For the administrative support staff, nine have completed and been awarded master’s degree, with additional three currently pursuing various graduate programmes,” he noted.

As part of the institute’s strategic agenda, he stated that the school has initiated the process of adding new programmes to its undergraduate courses.

To that effect, he said management has submitted two programmes to the National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE) for approval and subsequently for accreditation.

The proposed two new programmes, he announced, are Integrated Development Studies and Communication, and Marketing and Advertising Communication.

Dr Dzisah, who was speaking at the school’s 2017 graduation ceremony, announced that the overall school population currently stands at 5,380, out of which 1,060 are expected to graduate.