December 16, 2015 – Ashesi was the host of Campus Connect, a presidential initiative pioneered by the Ministry of Education to foster interaction between the government and universities. In attendance was a delegation of government leaders headed by the Minister of Education, Professor Naana Opoku-Agyemang, and including officials from the Student Loan Trust Fund, National Service Scheme, Youth Enterprise Support, Council for Technical, Vocational Education and Training, and Ghana Investment Promotion Centre.
Other government officials present included the Deputy Minister of Education in charge of Tertiary, Honourable Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, Deputy Minister for Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, Honorable Abla Dzifa Gomeshie, Deputy Minister for Transport, Honourable Joyce Bawa Mogtari, Deputy Minister for Health, Honourable Victor Bampoe, the Minister for Food and Agriculture, Honourable Fiifi Fiavi Kwetey and CEO of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre, Mawuena Trebarh.
“It is a wonderful idea for the government and public leaders to engage with stakeholders including universities,” said Patrick Awuah, chairman for the event, in his welcome address. “It is useful for our students to have direct engagement with policy makers and get an understanding on reasoning behind public policy in Ghana, and in so doing learn on their journey to becoming leaders themselves.”
The forum opened with speeches from student leaders from Ashesi and the Private University Students Association of Ghana, and this was followed by a series of presentations from the Ministers of State about their various offices. Speaking on the inspiration behind Campus Connect, the Minster of Education explained that the initiative was meant to bring government closer to the reality of Ghanaian universities.
“We don’t think our work is best done behind our desks,” she said. “We like to be on the field, setting up projects, visiting schools on an ordinary day to have the feel of the campus when nobody is looking. We also want to hear from faculty on an informal basis about their challenges and ways we can support them.”
The rest of the presentations not only touched on the roles of the government offices, but also centered on passion, innovation and creativity within the tertiary education space. “Have the courage to follow your dream,” said Honourable Kwetey. “The only way you can reach the top is by following what you truly love. In Africa, we suffer from passion deficit and this leads to creativity deficit. Follow your creative ideas that really make you profitable to your society. The change can happen when every single one of us, is ready to not rest until we bring that change that is required.”
Afterwards, the ministers addressed questions, comments and suggestions from students, staff and faculty of Ashesi and members of the general public present. Issues addressed included the state of national health insurance, technical and tertiary education in Ghana. Members of the Ashesi community especially pressed on the challenges around Ghana's accreditation system, and how it was hurting rather than helping private university growth.
"I was at a stakeholder conference yesterday, with about 300 people in attendance from various public and private tertiary institutions in Ghana," Patrick Awuah explained. "I asked the people in the room, how many of them thought Ghana's accreditation system was improving the quality of tertiary education. Not a single hand went up. 300 people. [...] That raises an important question about why we are spending so much money and so much time on a system, that the people in charge of quality assurance don't think is actually helping. So I do think that having conversations is important, but the feedback is not being listened to or implemented. We need to get to a point where we go beyond talking, to implementing."
“The campus connect is a great initiative,” said Aba Wilmot ’17. “It is a good opportunity for the ministers to engage with us and hear and understand some of our frustrations first hand, rather than us having to deal with the stress of trying to visit them in their offices. It would indeed be great to see them act on the feedback we have give them.”