A former Rector of the Graduates Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), Stephen Adei, has kicked against calls to ban the practice where teachers lecture in more than one tertiary institution on part-time basis.

Though he acknowledged there are limitations in the practice, which has come to be known as ‘academic galamsey’, that alone does not warrant a ban. The practice has become prevalent in Ghana due to inadequate qualified teachers in the system.

Professor Samuel Kofi Sefa-Dedeh of University of Ghana’s School of Engineering Sciences, who made the call for the scrap of the practice, explained that it is “over stretching lecturers and reducing efficiency”.

Speaking at the maiden Professor John Evans Atta Mills Memorial Lectures such lecturers get agitated easily when students seek further explanation to concepts.

The Ghana News Agency quoted Prof Sefa-Dedeh as saying the situation is affecting research output of the lecturers, resulting in the delay of their promotion for which they attack Vice-Chancellors and Heads of Department.

According to the GNA, he said the concern clearly shows that the “next generation of academics are nowhere to be found”.

Video conference the answer

But speaking to 3FM 92.7, Prof Addai disagreed with the call to ban the practice, though he said those who teach for more 16 hours are likely not to do a good job and also likely not have time for research.

“As soon as they exceed 16 hours, the quality of their teaching will go down,” he said, but suggested video conferencing as another means to teach on part-time basis.

In that case, he explained that the teachers will not need to be moving round campuses physically to lecture students.

“This is where I expect the National Accreditation Board and others to be facilitators looking for the national good rather than to say that everybody must have a number of teachers. Now they act as policemen instead of facilitators.”