<<Print>>

THE RECTOR of the Cape Coast Polytechnic, Dr. Lawrence Atepor has proposed to government to include in the 200 community senior high schools across the region, Technical and Vocational institutes to enhance the accessibility of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in the country. According to him, the increasing demand for skilled workers in many industries boosted the brain behind the new development to enable them to be skillfully trained through technical vocational training and Polytechnic education. Mr. Atepor expressed his gratitude to government for its decision to convert polytechnics into technical universities at the 11th Congregation of the Polytechnic in Cape Coast. The Rector said that the conversion would solve the aged problem of Academic Progression for Higher National Diploma (HND) graduate, adding that the conversion will also make university education more accessible to more people. Students summing up to 1,019 graduated with diplomas and 10 others with bachelor of technology degrees at the ceremony. Dr Atepor also said that polytechnic education had been seen as inferior since it received its tertiary status in 1993 adding �it has been wrongly perceived by many that polytechnic education is inferior to university education.� He expressed that the polytechnic admitted only 1,054 qualified students even though it could admit more students. He also indicated that the introduction of programmes and developing its human resource in anticipation of the conversion is also in the pipeline. Calling for support from authorities, the rector expressed concern for the lack of infrastructural facilities, particularly, to solve the accommodation problem in the polytechnic saying; less than 10per cent of the students had accommodation on campus. The Vice President, Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur, in a speech read on his behalf, said the government would continue to judiciously allocate funds to make the needed impact on educational institutions. He said the government had acknowledged the significant role played by polytechnic education in skilled man power development for rapid economic growth and would not hesitate in its efforts to provide the needed support for the polytechnics. Mrs. Emelia Aning, the chairperson of the Polytechnic Council stressed that the support needed by the polytechnics must be administered to bridge the gap between industry and academia.