The Institute for Educational Planning and Administration (IEPA), a UNESCO Category Two Centre at the University of Cape Coast, is advocating for a comprehensive overhaul of support systems within Ghanaian universities to align with the evolving dynamics of modern student life.
Speaking on ATL FM’s Atlantic Wave, Professor Michael Boakye-Yiadom, Director General of the Institute, warned that many higher education institutions are neglecting the non-academic struggles of their student populations.
He highlighted the heartbreaking plight of underrepresented students, such as those from foster homes, who face severe psychological trauma during examination weeks simply because they have no homes to return to during vacations.
According to him, such students, once they turn 18years, have to leave their foster homes as they do not qualify to stay there.
“I got to know one of them at this university recently,” he said. “And she told me, ‘Sir, the most difficult part of my life in this university is during exam week…So, when school is on break, and we are on vacation, I have no home…So, during exam week, I am extremely troubled.”
To curtail this problem, he said universities must proactively identify unrepresented student populations as their backgrounds differ vastly from regular students.
Professor Boakye-Yiadom is also calling on the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) to expand its regulatory standards.
He argues that when regulatory bodies visit tertiary institutions for accreditation and programme evaluations, they must look beyond lecture halls and curriculum design to inspect student affairs, mental health facilities, and campus living conditions.
Prof. Michael Boakye-Yiadom believes that academic programmes alone do not dictate institutional success, stressing that student life and administrative support are equally vital in shaping the daily experiences of undergraduates, lecturers, and university administrators alike.
For greater transparency and institutional growth, the IEPA Director General says leadership evaluation must flow in both directions.
Professor Boakye-Yiadom, who has implemented 360-degree feedback loops at his institute, says university heads and vice-chancellors must allow themselves to be actively evaluated by the staff and students they serve.
“So, I would want to see systems in place in all African universities where we can evaluate management. I’m sure vice-chancellors will be happy when we evaluate them, isn’t it?”
Using his own leadership at IEPA as a successful model, he emphasizes that allowing the people being served to evaluate leadership yields invaluable data that directly enhances institutional performance.
“At IEP, I allow my staff to evaluate me. And the feedback is great. It’s always great. So let us also have systems in place where the people that we serve can have the opportunity to evaluate us. And that will be very good data for enhancing some of the things that we do.”
READ MORE NEWS HERE
