Allow polytechnics to admit candidates with D7 and E8 – Rector

Reverend Professor Daniel Nyarko, Rector of the Takoradi Polytechnic, has suggested to the Ministry of Education to allow the Polytechnics to admit candidates with grades D7 and E8 passes.

He said this year, for example, the Polytechnics could have offered admission to only 1,853 out of 4,858 applicants but for the amnesty they grante to students with D7 and E8.

Rev. Nyarko said this during the matriculation ceremony for 3,220 fresh men and women representing 66 per cent of the total applicants into the Polytechnic.

He said the situation brought into sharp focus the need to streamline the admission criteria into polytechnics, taking into account the fact that the polytechnics were competency-based, career-focused training institutions.

The Rector stressed that credit pass (A1-C6) should remain the entry qualification for university education while the non-tertiary educational institutions should be allowed to accept grades D7 and E8.

“It is high time, as a nation, that we give greater attention to creating a parallel career path for the graduates of our technical and vocational education and training, unlike the conventional universities”, he said.

Rev. Prof. Nyarko said, however, that those admitted would be allowed to under-take a three-month special access course which would enable them to continue their education with the Polytechnics.

The Rector congratulated fresh men and women, and asked them to be disciplined and apply themselves strictly to the regulations of the institutions

Mr. Alfred Ekow Gyan, Deputy Western Regional Minister, appealed to the students to refrain from immoral acts such as drunkenness, occultism and sexual promiscuity.

“I will urge you to join those groups that seek to better the welfare of the citizenry, promote unity devoid of discrimination, with the aim of the overall development of our dear country,” he said.

Source: GNA