Ho, (Volta Region) 25 Jan. '99,

Dr George M. Afeti, Principal of the Ho Polytechnic, has condemned the phenomenon of "protocol requests" by prominent citizens for admission of students into higher institutions of learning saying "this practice has become so entrenched that the admission processes in our educational institutions are in real danger of losing credibility, transparency and fairness."

"The primary qualification for admission into an educational institution must be academic excellence and aptitude, not political, family or ethno-linguistic affiliations or camaraderie".

Such protocol requests are an aberration which corrupt the admission process and should therefore be discouraged, Dr Afesi said at the matriculation of 1,024 fresh students on Friday.

He announced that the Polytechnic will run a post-higher diploma or degree courses in one or two disciplines by the year 2001 provided the requisite human and material resources are available.

Qualification for such courses will be a good Higher National Diploma (HND), he announced cautioning, however that "not all HND holders will progress towards post-HND programmes.

"The HND in itself is an important qualification which you can be proud of because its professional worth is not in doubt", he assured.

Dr Afeti reminded the fresh students of the rules and regulations governing the polytechnic saying "freedom in the tertiary institution does not mean freedom to do anything you like."

He renewed the polytechnic's appeal to the Volta Regional Co-ordinating Council and private landlords to help the institution acquire rental accommodation units for staff for which the polytechnic is prepared to pay reasonable rents.