Educationist Anis Haffar has called for the inclusion of more skills training in the curricula of Ghana’s tertiary education.

In an interview with Class News, Mr. Haffar said skills were important than sitting down to be lectured.

“Every organisation has to be governed and there have to be structures that show how the governing is going to take place. But we have the Accreditation Board, that’s their work and then we also have the National Council for Tertiary Education, they have set the guidelines, but the most important thing though is that we have to teach young people to have skills because at the end of the day, skills are what you need, you don’t need a lecture, you need skills so that you can function; that should be the focus of private universities, polytechnic universities and the traditional universities.

Let’s say if you are an architect and you want to do well in architecture, you have to talk to the best people who are in architecture and if you are a medical doctor in a particular area and you want to develop expertise there, you have to talk to those people who have the expertise, it’s as simple as that,” he stated.

Meanwhile, Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Professor Ernest Aryeetey has said private universities must be strengthened so they can churn out quality graduates.

He told Class News: “There is a lot to be gained from opened access to higher education. The public system is unable to meet the demand so it is proper that we open it up for private participation. We should also develop the mechanism for regulating that.

If you have a system that is not properly regulated, you are not going to get the best out of your private participation that’s the main point we are making over here, so let’s strengthen Accreditation Board, let’s strengthen National Council for Tertiary Education; let’s strengthen the owners of the private institutions, show them what the standards are and require them to meet those standards and everything will be fine”.