Koforidua, Oct. 22, GNA- The Koforidua Polytechnic had withdrawn 61 students for poor academic performance. The Principal of the Polytechnic, Dr George Afrane, who disclosed this at the 12th matriculation ceremony on Monday, warned the matriculates to take their studies serious if they want to stay in the polytechnic.

The principal said the school had resolved to train high quality products to be beneficial to the current job market and would therefore take stringent measures against students whose behaviour would impede the success of that achievement. Dr Afrane said 1,282 students had been offered admission to various programmes in Higher National Diploma (HND) and Diploma in Business Studies (DBS) out of total application of 1,692 received. He said the school had instituted the non-residential programme known as 'doorstep' for people living in other areas of the region to further their education. Dr Afrane said currently the "doorstep" programme, which started at Akyem Oda and Nkawkaw, had 45 students and noted that permanent premises would be put up to ensure sustenance of the programme. He reminded the students that their mission in the school was to study and become good professionals and assist in the socio-economic development of the country, adding that, any behaviour short of hard work would be dealt with accordingly.

The Executive Secretary of the National Board for Professional and Technician Examinations (NABPTEX), Mr Ben Antwi-Boasiako, stressed that the HND was not an entry requirement into the universities. He said the emphasis of the polytechnic training was to equip their students to be self-employed and "not to join the unemployment queue" as had been the case where students of the polytechnic rather enter the universities instead of going to work. Mr Anti-Boasiako told the matriculates that the Bachelor in Technology programme was the best option for the HND holders who would want to further their education than starting from level 100 or 200 in the universities. The Executive secretary appealed to the polytechnics to submit records of students on time to NABPTEX for processing to ensure that students had their certificates at the appropriate time.