Three Year Varsity Education - We Welcome Debate!

The Minister of Education, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh has invited the public to debate the possibility of reducing the duration of tertiary education from four to three years.

The minister who was speaking on the topic World Class Education: An Imperative for the Next Generation of Leaders,' sought to trigger a national dialogue that would eventually lead the country to adopt an undergraduate model of three years duration.

The debate, according to the Minister should be based on a robust and strong pre-tertiary education structure that can support a three-year system.

As the Minister rightly noted, Ghana prior to the 1987 education reforms had tertiary education duration system different from what we have today. The three year duration has been practiced before and with a strong pre-tertiary education, Ghana can return to that era.

The basis for the Minister's position is for stakeholders to dialogue to consider reverting to an undergraduate model based on improved and robust senior high school curriculum that can adequately prepare students for a three-year undergraduate programme.

The Ghanaian Times sees this as a very important opportunity to engage in a debate to arrive at a consensus on that would shape tertiary education in line with what pertains in many other countries.

Arguably,, Ghana's education system has gone through several changes. Some have been beneficial, others have not. But it is necessary for the country's to education system to continue to undergo periodic reforms in order to keep pace with development around the world.

Our interest in the latest proposal by the Minister of Education, is based on the fact that Ghana's education must conform and aligned with education systems around the world.

The question we pose is if our education standard is at par with others that are running three-year programmes at the tertiary level, why are we still doing the four year programme?

It is logical for us to work towards aligning our education systems such a manner that it would conform to what pertains in other parts of the world.

As said by the Minister, we are not an Island and, therefore, must aligned our education with most countries that run the three-year programme.

We therefore, welcome the public debate and look forward to the consultation with the various universities to fashion out the best education system for the country.

Read Full Story