Former Minister for Power and Member of Parliament for Pru East, Kwabena Donkor, has called on universities in Ghana to prioritise national manpower needs when designing academic programmes rather than focusing primarily on generating internally generated funds (IGF).
He warned that the growing emphasis on revenue generation in public universities risked weakening the relevance and quality of higher education.
Dr Donkor made the remarks during an interaction with students of the Political Science Department at the University of Ghana as part of the “Time with the Politician” series.
The initiative, organised by the department in partnership with Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung Ghana, provides a platform for students to engage experienced political leaders and discuss issues related to governance and public policy.
According to Dr Donkor, many academic programmes in public universities—particularly in business schools and law faculties—are increasingly structured around revenue generation rather than national development priorities.
“If we take all our public universities, the structure of academic courses today is largely driven by internally generated funding instead of national manpower planning,” he said.
He cautioned that such trends could compromise academic standards, especially in postgraduate education.
Dr Donkor criticised the proliferation of short-duration master’s programmes, particularly those conducted on weekends or evening schedules, arguing that they did not provide sufficient academic engagement.
“There is no way a proper master’s programme can be completed over weekends in one year. Graduate education involves more than contact hours—it requires research, seminars and extensive independent academic work,” he noted.
He also expressed concern about evening postgraduate programmes that run from around 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., saying such arrangements often limit effective academic interaction between lecturers and students.
Dr Donkor therefore urged the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission to enforce its mandate of ensuring that universities align academic programmes with the country’s manpower planning needs.
Meanwhile, Anna Wasserfall, Country Representative of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung Ghana, emphasised the importance of dialogue and cooperation in strengthening democratic governance.
She noted that the foundation had worked in Ghana for more than six decades and remained committed to supporting platforms that promote civic education and engagement between political leaders and the youth.
Head of the Political Science Department at the University of Ghana, Isaac Owusu-Mensah, said the “Time with the Politician” series was designed to bridge the gap between academic theory and the realities of politics.
He explained that the programme allows students to interact with experienced political actors and gain deeper insights into governance, policy-making and democratic practice.
