Ho, July 16, GNA - Mr. Karmel Henry Ford, Member of Parliament (MP) for Buem, on Monday stressed the need to tailor the Polytechnic curricula to reflect the development needs of the country. He noted that the current curricular was alien to the manpower needs of the country.

Mr. Ford was speaking at the launch of the Students Representative Council (SRC) and Ghana National Union of Polytechnic Students (GNUPS) Week celebration of the Ho Polytechnic. It was on the theme, "Ghana at 50: Contributions of Polytechnic Education".

Mr. Ford noted that the curricular of the country's Polytechnics was not linked to industries, which undermined the ability of Polytechnic graduates to fit into the productive economy of the nation. He urged stakeholders in education to consider the manpower needs of the country in the implementation of the new Education Review Committee, which empowers Polytechnics to offer tertiary education in their own right.

Mr. Paul Dzandu, Deputy Director of the National Council for Tertiary Education, noted that the perception that Polytechnics were second-rate institutions was fast eroding due to the high enrolment as students now see Polytechnics as institutions for career progression. He expressed the hope that the new Polytechnic Law would further encourage many students to opt for the Polytechnics as their first choice tertiary institutions now that they had the legal backing to run degree programmes.

Mr. Dzandu advised Principals of Polytechnics to consider the rationalization of programmes in their institutions and to take advantage of the market orientation and geographical scope. "I feel that each Polytechnic should strive to become a centre of excellence in some specific programme and not duplicate the same programmes that do not reflect their comparative advantage", he said. Mr. Kofi Agrah Kwateku-Agbenyefia, President of the Ho Polytechnic SRC, stated that the importance of Polytechnic education was yet to be recognized in Africa and expressed the hope that the passage of the Polytechnic Bill into Law would be a breakthrough for the institutions in the country.

He called on the government to show more commitment to Polytechnics since they held the key to the country's Vision 2020.