Adequately finance science education - Prof Allotey
A renowned Ghanaian Mathematical Physicist, Prof F. K. A. Allotey, has called for deliberate policies to adequately finance science and technology education and research.
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This, according to him, was the best means to lift the country out of its current state to a developed and a prosperous nation.
Prof. Allotey was speaking at the opening of the Second Annual International Conference on Applied Sciences and Technology (ICAST) organised by the Kumasi Polytechnic in Kumasi. It was on the theme: “Technological Innovation for Accelerated National Growth and Development”.
He explained that nations such as China, United States of America (USA), South Korea and Germany had become economic giants because they purposefully pumped huge capital into science and technology and supported by entrepreneurs, performed breakthroughs to create their present wealth and solved socio-economic challenges.
Prof. Allotey, who is the current President of the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences, said scientific knowledge systems, including information and communication technology (ICT) had become the pillars in the accelerated development of industrialised countries and would continue to be the dominant factor in this century.
“Those nations who develop the capabilities and the capacity to create, utilise and sell this knowledge are more likely to improve the quality of life of their people than those who do not”, he said.
He described science and technology as the new international currency on which fortunes of nations would rise and fall, explaining that the widening gap between the developed and the poor countries was a manifestation of science and technology gap.
Lip service
Prof. Allotey, well known for his theory, "Allotey Formalism", indicated that although African leaders had recognised the urgent need to invest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics and made myriads of declarations at a lot of conferences, they had not ‘walked the talk’.
He said the industrialised world used less than two and half per cent of their labour force on their farms, coupled with technology and were able to produce enough food for themselves and export the rest.
Unfortunately in Africa, Prof. Allotey said, with over 60 per cent of its labour force working in the agricultural sector, the continent could not feed its people. He pointed out that this was the case because “we cannot use 19th century tools to solve 21st century challenges”.
Suggestions
Prof. Allotey reiterated that China and India pumped billions into research that had culminated in unprecedented levels of foreign exchange from the export of products and services, as well as their ability to solve their problems. Ghana, he stressed, could do same because the country was endowed with world renowned human resource and institutions.
He was of the strong conviction that Ghana could become the pharmacy of Africa, “this is because we have the people and talents. Government should provide an enabling environment”.
Prof. Allotey urged the government to facilitate the transition from science to business to take discoveries out of the laboratories into the market and eventually into the hands of those who will benefit from the discoveries.
Rector
The Rector of K-Poly, Prof N. N. N. Nsowah, said proper application of technology could be used to address issues such as poor agricultural yields, increasing crime wave and the current power crisis.
