BOLGATANGA POLYTECHNIC MAKES POSITIVE STRIDES (D/G Monday August 4,2008 PAGE 40)

A journey of 1000 miles begins with a step, so goes the adage. One institution in the Upper East Region which seems to have adopted this saying and built on it to achieve its current enviable status among the comity of polytechnics in Ghana is the Bolgatanga Polytechnic (B-POLY).
It was established in September, 1999 but admitted its first batch of students in 2003.
Under the leadership of Mr Robert A. Ajene, the founding Principal, B-Poly was started from the scratch and housed in rented premises in Bolgatanga. Through the generosity of the government, through the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund), a new campus was started at Sumbrungu.
Though not completed, the massive investment under way, estimated at GH¢7.5 million, involves the construction of an administrative block, a library, lecture halls and workshops.
The vision of B-Poly management is to transform the institution into a centre of excellence for teaching, learning and research.
The authorities of the polytechnic hope to achieve that ambition by using a three-pronged approach. They are the introduction of innovative and demand-driven academic programmes, developing and maintaining a competent and motivated human resource base and putting in place the requisite state-of-the-art facilities required for the modern study of science, technology and the applied arts.
Student enrolment since the establishment of the institution has been growing steadily. From 79 in the year of its inception, the school can now boast of a total student population of 540.
Academic life has seen tremendous improvement over the years. From two accredited programmes (Statistics and Agriculture Engineering) in 1999, the polytechnic currently runs five programmes.
Four new programmes, Ecological Agriculture, Industrial Art, Civil Engineering, and Hotel Catering and Institutional Management have received approval from the National Accreditation Board and would soon be rolled out.
Speaking to this writer, the current Rector of B-Poly, Prof Paul Tanzubil, said the Higher National Diploma (HND) in Industrial Art programme was geared towards improving upon the flourishing art and craft industry in the Upper East Region through the training of full-time students and local artisans, as well as the generation of appropriate technology and innovation to address the pertinent constraints, as well as modernise the system.
He said similarly, the HND in Ecological Agriculture course was intended to help transform food and fibre production in northern Ghana from an increasingly exploitative model to a more ecologically friendly and sustainable enterprise.
Prof Tanzubil expressed the hope that those new courses would help equip the youth with skills for self-employment and also improve the productivity and efficiency of local producers and entrepreneurs.
The Governing Council, as well as the management of B-Poly, considers human resource development as one of its priorities. For that matter, serious efforts were being made to develop a strong and performing human resource base using the three-pronged strategy of recruitment, training and retraining.
The academic staff strength of B-Poly has increased from 16 in September, 2007 to 65 as of today. More than 80 per cent of the staff possess postgraduate and/or professional qualifications.
Again, as a tertiary institution, B-Poly is making great strides in the area of research. Proposal and report writing courses for academic staff and management training for Principal Officers, Deans and Heads of Department have been organised at various periods with funding from GETFund and other donors.
In spite of all these positive trends, B-Poly is not without challenges. According to Prof Tanzubil, low student enrolment remains probably the institution’s greatest challenge, especially in the areas of science, technology and vocational education.
He stressed that apart from the rather disadvantaged geographical location of the institution, endemic poverty and a relatively weak academic base at the pre-tertiary level within the polytechnic’s catchment area could be the contributory factors to the current state of affairs.
Addressing an audience at the maiden congregation of the polytechnic at Sumbrungu, where a total of 199 graduates, made up of 136 males and 63 females, who completed their academic programmes of study during the 2005/2006 and 2006/2007 academic years, were awarded the Higher National Diploma, Prof Tanzubil mentioned lack of student hostels and low internally generated funds as some of the challenges facing the institution.
He made it clear that much as he was aware that the government policy was to de-link admissions from accommodation in tertiary institutions, there were absolutely no places to rent within the catchment area, making life really terrible for students.
While appealing to the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports to do something about the issue as a matter of urgency, Prof Tanzubil also called on private developers to take up the challenge of providing affordable accommodation for the students and staff.
He stated that due to a variety of reasons, there had been long delays in the completion of some projects, especially the water supply system and the library complex.
The rector, therefore, appealed to the government to channel more resources towards the early completion of those projects.
Polytechnic education plays an important role in national development. Apart from providing career-oriented and skills- based educational polytechnics are supposed to produce people who are career-focused and have a hands–on-direction suitable to the needs of industry, the community and the country at large.
It is hoped that having come this far, B-Poly would be given every assistance to enable it to become first class tertiary educational institution in the Upper East Region.