What makes A Good University

2007 THE-QS world university rankings and matters arising

‘How I wish my alma mater, University of Cape Coast, was among the top 10 leading academic citadels on the continent, if not among the top 100 on the global list. Unfortunately, just as wishes are not horses, and beggars are deprived from riding, so are academic institutions not built by wishful thinking and constant maneuvers, but by hard work and dedication’.

In a quasi-scientific opinion poll a couple of days ago, I decided to pose the above question to students of our prestigious premier university, University of Ghana at legon.

To establish an opinion about what a good university is in their estimation. ii. To get a reaction from them about the just released world university ranking which puts Ghanaian Universities well at the bottom both continentally and internationally.

Indeed, the reactions of students were swift. An overwhelming majority of 97% were able to identify the following constituents which combine to make a good university: validity and reliability of research output from the university; lecturer student ratio; entry grade of students; global, continental and national competitiveness of the institution in attracting both students and academic dons, availability of physical infrastructure and financial resource available to the institution.

In all the above identified constituents of ‘what makes a good university’, a good 79% of students are of the view that University education in Ghana is a joke. Government interference in all processes of university administration and even influencing of economic researches and massaging of the results or the outcome has rendered our universities unreliable with regards to research quality and findings. Lecturer/students ration is hitting the roofs, in fact, one of the highest in the world. Manipulation of examination papers and results have also combined to cast an indelible slur on the image of Ghanaian universities to the extent that some foreign universities are beginning to take a critical look at certificates presented by Ghanaians desiring to study in their institutions. Physical infrastructure on the university campuses across the country have been stretched to unimaginable limits with the results reflecting in the poor performance of students. In deed, this compels students, in their bid to avoid failure and disgrace, to seek unfair means to pass their examination. The result is that unscrupulous lecturers and staff of the university condone and connive with some of them to manipulate the system to their advantage for exorbitant amounts of money. The recent leakage of examination papers by the son of the former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana in association with some dons, the alleged manipulation of admissions list by the former self-styled Director of the Ghana Law School and the alleged manipulation of examination results to pass a slipshod journalist who failed his law examination are typical examples of how low our once most accredited university, University of Ghana and a host of others have descended. They flourish in the glory of their past achievements.

The most interesting but unsurprising aspect of the ranking is that our premier University, the icon of higher education in Ghana is sadly sandwiched between universities in the most troubled parts of the continent, University of Khartoum in Sudan which was just a point ahead of University of Ghana, and University of Mogadishu which was two points below her. More interesting still is the position of University of hunger-stricken Zimbabwe which came 14 on the continental chart.

It is however not the least surprising that none of the private university, save Awuah’s Ashesi University, was able to find a place on the list of the top 100. Awuah’s fastidious and meticulous academic attitude of demanding heaven of earth coupled with Prof. Araba’s astute administration has started yielding dividends. All I can say at this stage is that Awuah and Araba, you are a perfect prototype-duo of educationist. Don’t rest on your oars. Though you are not rocket scientists, you are sure to cruise beyond the sky if you keep the momentum jealously guided by principles. You have done us proud and we are all proud of you.

Turning now to the numerous private universities that are springing up across the nooks and crannies of this country, they should be aware that university education is not about renting somebody’s decrepit compound around Matehako or Dansoman, recruiting substandard lecturers and family members and manipulating grades to attract more students who are ready to pay the exorbitant fees. University education is about quality research output, academic rigour and what have you. These are the values that make Awuah’s Ashesi radiates like a silver lining in the cloud of bogus universities all around us.

In fact, I must point out that for some of the so-called universities in Ghana today, if I sit on an interview panel somewhere in this country, I will require that they take very basic test in writing and arithmetic. In my previous article titled: ‘Rev. Prof. Agyepong, Stop the Double Standard’, I explicated how grades are manipulated in one of such institutions on the orders of its so-called chancellor or whatever he calls himself.

Some may question the criteria by which these rankings were arrived at or even try to create doubts around the ranking as one university don I spoke with tried to do. The question, however, remains whether the rankers have any special interests in other universities on the continent to the extent that they needed to manipulate the results to make our universities look that less competitive? If we have any reason to challenge these rankings, we have every right to draw the attention of the rankers to what we may see as infractions.

I must again point out that the abysmal low competitiveness of our universities in the latest ranking has consolidated my thoughts on issues of development. Your development is just a reflection of your academic institutions. If you starve the goose that lays the golden egg, you are certain to shrink in production. Therefore the confusion on our university campuses are just a reflection of serious problems in our country Ghana. When one travels to other African countries and see the progress this countries have made are continuing to make, one is feels very depressed when one returns hear to hear or read all the cooked figures that are being charade to make us think we are making progress. We are retrogressing if we cant house our university students. we have made no progress if according to government statistics (which may be far less than the reality) over 2.5 million Ghanaians are homeless not under any disastrous circumstances but in a rapidly growing economy as we are made to believe.

Clearly, the academic council or board of our universities must sign performance contracts with the heads of these institutions immediately, so that they know what their task is before they assume the mantle of leadership. They shall be measured according to their performance at the end of their tenure. We should be able to say good bye to the good old days where Vice-Chancellor waited in the loop two months to their retirement to purchase a new vehicle for their office knowing very well that their position allows them to retire with the vehicle they are using before their retirement. We should also have quality assessment council which will assess and rank even our local universities and sanctioned non-performing ones as we may find in the developed countries. For our national accreditation board, I am not certain they can deliver on these mandates if offered them.

It is time we call spade by its name. I once heard a Vice-Chancellor boasting that he was able to give a chicken each to his staff as his achievement when he was in that high office. Do we know what we want for our universities and how to get them?

NUGS, GNUPS and all associated student bodies must be steadfast in defending just and equitable policies on our academic campuses. They must demand accountability from the top to the down. Gone are the days when the Vice-Chancellors will must be upheld and made to hold sway in every important decision on campus. If Tagoe, thinks he can continue to use that top-down approach to impose policies on students, then he should be ready for an all-out battle with students.