Academic literature on the topic 'Ghanaian public universities'

The history of music in Ghanaian school programmes can hardly be separated from the general history of education in Ghana. Since the time of colonial administration in Ghana, music (especially as manifested through singing) has formed part of the educational curriculum for different reasons, one being a tool for promoting the culture of the colonialists. Several advances (particularly after independence in Ghana) have been made to incorporate aspects of the Ghanaian culture into the educational curriculum. Over 50 years down the line, what is the extent to which Ghanaian (African) music is studied in Ghanaian schools? In this paper, the extent to which African music is taught in African (Ghanaian) universities is analysed by looking at the undergraduate music course content of two Ghanaian public universities. Although African music is taught, it only forms an infinitesimal proportion of the total music courses that are offered to music students in these two universities. Considering that the process of music education is also a process of enculturation, the concluding recommendation is that although a multicultural music programme is necessary, the teaching of African (Ghanaian) music in Ghanaian universities should be the dominant feature.

Over the years, entry into the academia in any Ghanaian university requires an advanced research degree, more preferably traditional doctorate. In the last ten years, a reasonable number of academics entering Ghanaian universities enter with professional doctorate degrees. This article seeks to investigate the acceptability of professional doctorate degree holders in Ghanaian universities, how they are perceived by their counterparts in the academia and their suitability in the universities. The data was gathered from respondents in public universities using interview schedule. The study concluded that since university education is not only to prepare students to enter the academia the involvement of professional doctorate holders in university teaching and learning would also help universities to effectively train students to acquire skills that will make them versatile in the present world of work.

Universities in the twenty-first century must use successful public relations methods to communicate with both external and internal audiences. Ghana's public universities are dedicated to change, which necessitates the creation of public relations techniques to increase student enrolment. The exploratory inquiry was used in this study. The consequences of public relations tactics on public relations strategies at Ghanaian public universities are examined in this paper. Based on the existing literature, it is concluded that public universities use a variety of marketing public relations strategies to increase student enrollment, including television advertising, radio advertising and web page information. However, there is still room for improvement, and practical recommendations are made.

The use of performance appraisal, a presence of the private sector organisations, has now become wide spread and has grown to include previously untouched organisations and occupational hierarchies such as secretarial and administrative staff in both the public and private sectors. However, verv little has been reported in the literature concerning the perceptions and experiences of the universities in developing countries relating to performance appraisals. This study therefore sought to explore performance appraisal systems in the Ghanaian public sector universities to consider the perceptions and experiences of the administrative staff about the problems associated with the performance appraisal systems of the universities. The study adopted an exploratory, descriptive and evaluative triangulation case study approach and generated data through semistructured interviews and self-completing questionnaires from 401 university employees in Ghana from four of the six public sector universities. Both quantitative and qualitative methods of analysis in the form of frequencies, percentages, means, graphs and content analysis were used to analyse the data. The results indicate that generally the perceptions of the administrative staff conceming the effectiveness of the present performance appraisal systems of the universities were skewed towards dissatisfaction because they lacked essential characteristics of an effective performance appraisal system. These include lack of c1early formulated and defined policies and objectives, performance measures, effective staff participation and training and development that could make them effective. The study concludes that there is a need for the universities to recognise their employees as valued resources and treat them as a source of competitive advantage which have to be strategically managed to achieve improved employee performance and development as well as the effectiveness of the universities.

This study investigated computer technology for instructional and administrative use in public universities in Ghana. Self-administered questionnaires were distributed to 450 academic staff and 98 administrators in three Ghanaian public universities: the University of Cape Coast (UCC), the University of Ghana (UG), and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technologv (KNUST).Computers were generally available for both lecturers and administrators 10 use. Availability' and access to technology did not differ significantly between universities. Academic staff used computers mainly for preparing lecture notes or reports while administrators used them mainly for preparing memos and reports. Forty-five percent of lecturers and 58% of administrators reported low or moderate skills in the use of computers. A majority of the respondents obtained their skills through self intuition rather than formal tuition. The findings suggest that universities could improve the availability; access and skills in the use of relevant technologies as part of their staff development programmes. Progress could be monitored by current accreditation programmes.

Narratives offer academic communities a moment of reflexivity. However, stories told by members in academic communities are under-studied. Drawing on Wenger’s idea of community of practice, the present study examined the narratives of 12 senior communication educators in three public universities in Ghana, and how the narratives shape the knowledge economy. Using field notes, technical documents, and structured interviews, the study revealed that community practice in the field of communication education in Ghanaian public universities is constrained by a not so vibrant community that faces challenges in localising a Western curriculum, and is yet to coordinate its local language research agenda.

Purpose The incentive to strengthen university governance is espoused by a number of implications but among these three are very conspicuous: improve quality of university education system, and thus provide students and the general public value for money; enhance the utilization of resources invested in university education; and nevertheless contribute significantly in human capital formation, guaranteeing effective and efficient public leadership and services to society. However, there are dearth studies on how this can be realized in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly Ghana. The purpose of this paper is to explore pertinent issues for desirable university governance and how it can be achieved in the sub-region drawing from the Ghanaian perspective. Design/methodology/approach This is a qualitative study seeking to explore the questions: what is needed to ensure desirable university governance? And how can it be achieved? Data were collected from primary sources and bolstered with secondary sources. In-depth interviews (structured and semi-structured guides) and documentary evidence were used to collect data from 19 participants in selected public and private universities in Ghana. Findings The study examines key governance issues such as funding, accountability, infrastructure, trust, and regulation. The paper further identifies and discusses dilemmas (weakness in legislative instruments, quality assurance, increased enrollment and self-regulation) institutions of higher learning have had to contend with in the discharge of their duty. Social implications In an effort to make a difference between poverty and wealth, knowledge becomes an indispensable means and university education is at the center of such knowledge. The call for public universities to be managed like businesses continuous to be as contentious as an issue, as the term governance and the discussion might not end any moment soon. For the proponents of this idea, public universities are no longer getting the needed resource support from the state and by implication the state does no longer view university education as a social good and, therefore, they must find their own way of operating by introducing reasonable fees to generate revenue. However, the school of thought that is against this idea thinks that university education must continue to be treated as a social good because it is geared toward the development of the country and is expensive and if not subsidized, who can afford. The poor and disadvantaged will be marginalized and so the state must directly or indirectly continue to fund university education in return for accountability. Originality/value This explorative study is a contribution to the discourse of university governance. It primarily focuses on issues that could serve as a catalyst in enhancing university education. This has important implications for equipping universities in Ghana and within the African sub-region with similar challenges for a better output to meet the development needs of its ailing economies and reposition it as a major firebrand to instill competition on the global arena of lifelong learning.

Universities rely on endogenous inputs they have to enroll and train students to graduate. Studies have concluded that graduation rates are low at research masters and doctoral degree levels in universities. This study determined endogenous inputs uses which predict internal efficiency in postgraduate research degree programmes in two Ghanaian public universities. The study used data obtained from a sample of 318 research students and graduates from nine applied science and sixteen humanities departments. Stratified random and snowball sampling techniques were used to sample participants for the study. Questionnaires and documents analysis guides provided data to test hypothesis at p<.05 alpha level of significance. Faculty and students’ interactions, use of study spaces, reading resources at departments and libraries are endogenous inputs uses which accounted for high levels of variation in graduation rates and significantly predicted research students’ graduation rates. The study recommended among others that policy should be crafted aimed at increasing endogenous inputs uses in universities to ensure higher internal efficiency thus high students’ graduation rates.

Background: The Ghanaian culture expects women of reproductive age to reproduce. This makes pregnancy an acceptable occurrence in most tertiary institutions in Ghana. Although Ghanaian Universities allow pregnancy in school, challenges associated with pregnancies do not exempt pregnant students from following the academic requirements of the universities. This study therefore explores students’ experiences of copying with pregnancy in an academic environment in Ghana. Methods: This was a case study, quantitative and qualitative design using structured questionnaires and semi-structured interview guides respectively for data collection. Respondents comprised twenty (30) pregnant full time and part time female students from campuses of University of Education, Winneba. Data collection was between October 2016 and May 2017. Quantitative data were analysed using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 23. The qualitative data was transcribed and manually analysed thematically. Results: The study found that majority of participants were adults between ages 26 and 30 years. More than half of them (66.7%) had no child and this was their first pregnancy which they felt was mistimed as it occurred during schooling, posing some physiological, financial and academic challenges which compelled students to devise various coping strategies to combine academic work and pregnancy amidst limited University provisions for pregnant students. Conclusions: The study results have policy and programme implications for meeting women’s needs for pursuing academic and reproductive goals concurrently. The study recommends that public universities in Ghana should institutionalise programmes on preconception counselling and coping with pregnancy in academic environment to enable female students make informed decisions on exercising their reproductive rights in whilst in the university to ensure positive maternal health outcomes.

This study examined students’ perception on the integration of Information Technology (IT) in Ghanaian distance Education, and provided a comparative analysis of the levels of integration among public universities in Ghana. The research was conducted at the distance learning centres of the 4 major public universities, namely: University of Ghana (UG), University of Cape Coast (UCC), University of Education, Winneba (UEW) and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST). Questionnaires were used to collect data from a sample of 297 students, using a cluster sampling technique and the data were analysed using One-Way ANOVA and chi-square statistics. The study showed that although computer literacy among distance learners was high, technology integration was low and varied among the institutions. Smart phones were the major internet access devices. The online learning tools for self-efficacy were vital to IT integration. Based on the gathered results, recommendations such as implementing a robust national IT infrastructure, among others, were provided for reflection by higher education institutions offering distance education in Ghana.

Globally, there is a growing interest in widening access and supporting participation for persons with disability in higher education. This situation is stimulated in part by major international treaties and protocols. Ghana has demonstrated its commitment to this global trend to formulate and implement national legislation on inclusive education across the country’s educational system. However, in Ghana, access to and participation in the higher education system by persons with disability remains poor despite national legislation and policies to address this issue. It appears that national policies have not fully translated into institutional policies and provisions dedicated to supporting persons with disability. This study investigated how the Inclusive Education (IE) Policy (2015) in Ghana has been reflected in institutional policies and provisions that focus on students with disability in Ghanaian public universities. The aim of the study was to explore the extent to which institutional policies, arrangements, and practices in Ghanaian public universities aligned with the IE policy and addressed disability issues to increase access and participation for persons with disability. A qualitative approach and interpretivist paradigm were adopted using a multi-case study design. In-depth interviews were conducted with a total of 36 participants: seven policy architects from the National Steering Committee on Inclusive Education; three pro-vice chancellors; three deans of students; seven deans of school and heads of department; two heads and two staff from disability support units; as well as 12 students with disability. These participants represented architects of the IE policy and members of the three public universities in Ghana that were studied. Other data were collected from document analysis and observations and, together with data from the interviews, were used to establish how and to what extent institutional policies and provisions support access and full participation of persons with disability in Ghanaian public universities. Data from the interviews, observations, and documents were analysed thematically and presented in a narrative form. It was evident from the findings that awareness of the IE policy and the knowledge of its contents were limited in the case study universities. Although participants’ understanding of the objectives of the IE policy was consistent with the intentions of the policy, this knowledge was based on the participants’ experience rather than their knowledge of the policy content. Findings showed that the context of each case university reflected the extent of resourcing for policy implementation. This study also revealed that although the case study universities have provisions and a range of support services available for students with disability, these did not meet the students’ expectations. Further, it became evident from the data that attitudes towards students with disability were mainly negative, impacting university experiences of persons with disability. In addition, although the public universities in this research did admit some categories of students with disability, the universities tended to provide adjustments rather than inclusion due, in part, to financial constraints. This study has highlighted that knowledge of national legislation and policy on the inclusion of people with disability, resourcing, and attitudes at all levels of the university community have implications for widening access and supporting the participation of students with disability in public universities in Ghana. Finally, this study provides recommendations that may improve access and participation for persons with disability in Ghanaian public universities.