Amid the ongoing tensions in Ghana’s tertiary education space, former Minister for Power and former MP, Dr. Kwabena Donkor, has re-echoed a more deeper concern, which he believes is a bigger threat to the country’s economic development.
Beyond the governance disputes between the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) and the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG), Dr. Donkor indicates that the mass shift of technical and technology-driven universities into the liberal arts and business areas is a more concerning problem.
He therefore puts the chunk of the blame on the doorstep of one of the parties in the current impasse, which is GTEC.
Dr. Kwabena Donkor observes that GTEC is drifting from one of its most critical responsibilities of shaping the country’s future workforce through deliberate policy direction.
A Mandate Left Behind
Dr. Donkor points to what he describes as a worrying neglect of GTEC’s core function, which is to advise the government on curriculum direction and manpower development.
This mandate, he argues, is not just administrative. It is strategic. For him, this mandate is very critical since it is about ensuring that Ghana produces the right mix of skills, such as engineers, technicians, scientists, and innovators, needed to drive industrial growth and economic transformation.
However, he notes that it appears that responsibility is sidelined.
“I am particularly against GTEC because they are not living up to one of their core mandates of advising on national direction in terms of curriculum, national policy in terms of manpower development for the future. They have relegated that to the background,” he confessed.
From Technical to Generalist: A Dangerous Shift
One of his strongest criticisms is the gradual transformation of technical and science-based institutions.
Institutions originally designed to train hands-on, industry-ready graduates are increasingly offering programmes in liberal arts and business studies, which already have a number of traditional universities offering such programmes.
To Dr. Donkor, this shift is a structural misalignment with the country’s development needs.
Technical universities, by design, are meant to support industrialization, build technical capacity, and feed critical sectors like manufacturing, construction, and engineering
His worry is that when these institutions pivot toward general academic programmes, the country risks losing a vital pipeline of skilled labour. He maintains that GTEC is not being very effective in this mandate.
“I have criticised GTEC for allowing our technical and science-based institutions of higher learning to be turned into liberal arts and business universities,” he told The High Street Journal
Why It Matters for the Economy
Dr. Donkors sees that the implications of the current situation extend far beyond the classroom. He argues that a nation that underinvests in technical and scientific training often struggles to build competitive industries.
He adds that it is a recipe for high unemployment among youth and a disincentive to attracting high-value investment since the country does not have the requisite skilled human capital.
In practical terms, it creates a mismatch, where graduates are produced in fields with limited demand, while industries lack the technical expertise they need to grow.
“That is inimical to national development,” he emphasized.
A Call for Strategic Realignment
The former minister maintains that Ghana cannot afford to dilute its technical education base.
As the country seeks to industrialise and compete globally, the role of technical universities becomes even more critical, not less. The path forward, he says, requires GTEC to sit up and begin a deliberate reset.
He says there is a need for a reset that restores focus to technical training, strengthens policy direction, and ensures that education serves development, not just expansion.
This is because the kind of graduates a country produces today will determine the kind of economy it builds tomorrow.
