The President and Provost of Academic City University, Professor Fred McBagonluri, has thrown his weight behind former Minister of Education Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum’s controversial assertion that some university programmes are “useless,” intensifying the national debate over the relevance of tertiary education in Ghana.
In a Facebook post published on Monday, Prof. McBagonluri said Dr Adutwum’s comments, though widely criticised, had highlighted an uncomfortable truth about higher education.
“Hon. Adu-Twum has been taken to the laundry. But he is right on point. Some degrees are useless and let that truth be told,” Prof. McBagonluri wrote.
His remarks come barely a day after Dr Adutwum, speaking on the Konnected Minds podcast, criticised some programmes offered by Ghanaian universities, arguing that they do not prepare graduates for the labour market and instead amount to “a degree to nowhere.”
The former education minister specifically questioned programmes such as Development Studies at the University for Development Studies (UDS) and BA in Education (Non-Teaching) at the University of Ghana, arguing that universities were prioritising enrolment and tuition revenue over national manpower needs.
Dr Adutwum also called on the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) to ensure academic programmes are aligned with the country’s labour market requirements as part of efforts to tackle graduate unemployment.
Prof. McBagonluri echoed that position, arguing that Ghana should rethink how it allocates educational resources by focusing on programmes that directly support the country’s long-term development goals.
“Educational resources should be redirected at developmental imperatives,” he stated.
He said meaningful reform should begin with a clear national vision, urging policymakers to define Ghana’s long-term aspirations before designing university curricula.
“To do that we must ask the fundamental question, ‘Where do we want Ghana to be in the next 50yrs?’ Then we can effectively architect an equally responsive future,” he wrote.
To reinforce his argument, the Academic City president cited developments in the United States, claiming that the State of Indiana is eliminating academic programmes that do not enable graduates to earn at least US$30,000 annually.
“State of Indiana is eliminating courses that cannot make bearer $30k per annum. Don’t let’s always be the last to realize that the last bus has left the last station,” he added.
The debate over the relevance of university programmes has sharply divided public opinion, with supporters of Dr Adutwum arguing that Ghana’s higher education system should prioritise programmes that meet labour market demands and drive economic growth.
Others, however, contend that disciplines in the humanities and social sciences remain valuable, arguing that the worth of a university degree should not be measured solely by immediate employment prospects or graduate earnings.
Prof. McBagonluri’s intervention adds another prominent academic voice to the discussion and is likely to fuel further debate over whether Ghana’s universities should redesign their programmes to reflect changing economic and workforce needs.
Source: www.kumasimail.com
