Koforidua, Oct. 02, GNA- The Principal of the Koforidua Polytechnic, Dr George Affranie, on Tuesday, appealed for scholarships for specific science based programmes to help address the lack of interest in the sciences, especially engineering. He called for support in key programmes that would build the human resource base of the sciences to world standards, "other than spreading our resources thinly over all institutions and programmes in the name of equity" he stressed.

Dr Affranie cautioned that Ghana's progress in human resource development might be slow unless frantic efforts were made to remove all barriers on science-related programmes to create jobs that the country needs to reach the middle-income bracket.

Dr Affranie made the call when he addressed the inaugural ceremony of the School of Engineering of the Koforidua Polytechnic in Koforidua. He said students shy away from science-related programmes and that after several advertisements on the automotive engineering programme in the school; only seven applicants out of 18 who qualified had registered to offer the programme.

The Principal told the gathering that not even the offer of a scholarship to good students was able to attract the public to the programme.

He announced that with the introduction of the school of engineering, four new programmes namely, mechanical, electrical/electronic, systems and automotive engineering would be added to the already existing programmes. According to Dr Affranie, if the oil business became successful in Ghana, highly skilled mechanical engineers would be in great demand, "hence the Koforidua polytechnic's resolve to train and equip people for that laudable task ahead". The Chairman of the Governing Council of the Polytechnic, Prof. Sir Kwabena Boakye-Yiadom, said the inauguration of the school was to enable the students to access quality polytechnic education to meet world standards. He said the programme would emphasise on technological knowledge and the development of relevant skills needed to meet the demand for an upper level manpower for development to move the nation to middle-income status.

The Omanhene of the New Juaben Traditional Area, Nana Oti-Boateng, emphasized the need to adapt and apply engineering to solve the many problems hindering the country's development. The Omanhene stressed that with collective skills and knowledge in engineering, significant strides would be made to help reduce poverty and its related problems.