GAAS launches project to build consensus on higher education policy
The Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences (GAAS) has launched a two-year project to gather evidence, share information and provide a platform for building consensus and contributing to policy formulation on higher education in Ghana.
The project with funding from Carnegie Corporation of New York (CCNY) is to critically examine past, present and future reforms in the higher education sector and offer a platform for open and objective discussion of higher education policy.
On the theme “Motivating higher education reforms in Ghana-towards equity and sustainability,” the project is to span over the period 2022-2024.
The chairman of project management committee, Emerita Professor Takyiwaa Manuh, speaking at the launch in Accra on Thursday said several studies had been undertaken over the years to shed light on the problems and outcomes of policies and reforms within the higher education sector.
She, however, said there was the absence of a platform for independent persons and groups to reflect on the challenges of the higher education sector on a regular and sustained basis.
Emerita Prof. Manuh said there was also a dearth of arrangements for providing a sounding board for different stakeholders, undertaking regular reviews of current policies, and assessing independent research evidence to inform new policy considerations.
To address this gap, Emerita Prof. Manuh said the project would offer a platform for reflection and a search for “workable and sustainable solutions” to some of the endemic challenges of the highe education sector.
“In addition to mapping changes in the sector, the project will commission studies on selected policies and trends that will serve as background papers for the policy dialogues that will be organised, to culminate in a national conference on higher education reforms,” she added.
The Chairman of the steering committee, Prof. C.N.B Tagoe, said the Academy’s strategic plan 2022-2025, inter alia, aimed to make it the institution of choice that empowers Ghanaians with transformative 21st century skills and knowledge, through thought leadership by deepening the academics involvement in the discourse of important national issues and prioritising communication as an enabler in its value chain.
“With the Academy’s composition of fellow and diverse academic and professional backgrounds, in abounding capacity to share public knowledge on diverse of it, we are styled to become sub step to go through source for relevant parliamentary committees and indeed the presidency for expeditious policy advice and forward looking scans and analysis in response to demand or in anticipation of future needs,” he added.
He expressed the hope that the Ministry of Education and Ghana Tertiary Education Commission under which the Academy was placed would buy into the vision and provide the necessary support and encouragement for the fulfillment of their mission.
BY VIVIAN ARTHUR
