Programme to bridge gap between secondary, university education launched
A pre-tertiary education exchange programme for students in senior high school (SHS) to bridge the gap between secondary and university education in the country, was launched in Accra yesterday.
The launch took place at the 2018 Educational Summit in Accra, which provided a platform for SHS students to be exposed to career choices and other mentorship programmes that will launch them into securing places to pursue university education.
The new national initiative, which is under the auspices of the College of Health Sciences of the University of Ghana and the Ghana National Exchange Programme School, is to lead to the development of intervention models to address the gaps between the secondary and university levels of education.
It will also come out with career development schemes for SHS students anticipating to enter the universities and prepare them for university life in terms of how to finance their education while in there.
The launch took place at the University of Ghana Business School yesterday, on the theme: “UG @ 70 – Bridging the Gap between Secondary and University Education in Ghana: the Role of Stakeholders.”
Students of selected SHSs in Accra, including Achimota School, attended the event.
Bridge
Speaking at the event, a Deputy Minister of Education, Dr Samuel Yaw Adutwum, lauded the initiative and described it as a tool that would certainly help to bridge the yawning gap between secondary and university education.
He decried the gap between the two systems and underscored the need for universities in the country to collaborate with SHSs, to narrow the gap to give confidence to SHSs students to desire to pursue university education.
Dr Adutwum also expressed concern about the 70 per cent failure rate in the West African Senior High School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) which made it impossible for some students to secure admission to universities and other tertiary institutions in the country.
Breaking barriers
A former Minister in charge of Girl Child Education in the Kufuor administration, Ms Christine Churcher, who launched the programme, said education was the only tool that broke the barriers of status.
She told the students that with education “you can wine and dine with kings even if you come from a poor background.”
“It is only with education that you will not be asked who you are or where you come from, wherever you find yourself,” Ms Churcher said.
A Senior Lecturer at the University of Ghana Business School, Prof. Godfred Bokpin, made a presentation on university life at the University of Ghana, Legon to the
SHS students.
It touched on academics, hall week celebrations and other social activities that made life at the university fun.
The Spanish Ambassador to Ghana, Ms Alicia Rico, who was the guest of honour, urged the students to take their education seriously to climb high on the academic ladder.
She commended the government for introducing the free SHS policy which,she noted, was the most important investment the President had made in the education of the SHS students.
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