THE Board Chairman of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC), Professor John Aheto, has urged students of tertiary educational institutions to cultivate the values of critical thinking.
That, he said, would make them highly productive citizens of the nation.
According to him, if they thought critically, they could come to judgements, choices, ideas, conclusions and decisions for themselves, instead of letting others to do that on their behalf.
Professor Aheto said this when he delivered a lecture at the second Student Representative Council (SRC) week of the Evangelical Presbyterian (EP) University College at Ho last weekend.
He spoke on the topic: “The delivery of quality tertiary education: The role of private universities as stakeholders in Ghana.”
Prof. Aheto said the components of critical thinking included the intense consideration and imagination for plausible alternatives to current attitudes and ways of thinking and living.
He stated that there was no one sure answer to problems of the world but solutions rested in the choice of alternatives and cost.
Prof. Aheto said, among others, that a well–cultivated critical thinker, student or professional was open minded within alternative systems of thought, able to recognise and assess their assumptions, implications and practical consequences.
According to him, research and evaluation had revealed that polytechnics performed much better in accountancy than their counterparts in the universities, adding that the best teachers of the nation were found in the polytechnics.
He asked lecturers of tertiary institutions to accept challenges of their students and not insist that students reproduce knowledge delivered only according to their methods of teaching.
Prof. Aheto revealed that the Ho Polytechnic was rated as number one among polytechnics in the country.
He predicted that private universities would overtake state universities within the next 10 years, adding that the lecturer to student ratio in private universities was more conducive to learning.
Prof. Aheto, who is the dean of students at the Central University College, encouraged students of private universities to be proud of themselves.
He stressed that the students of the EP College of Education should not think that they could not excel because it was a new institution.
The Volta Regional Minister, Mr Joseph Amenowode, advised the students to be content with their enrolment at the institute since that was better than none at all.
He said they should behave differently after school in order to bring a good image to their alma mater, emphasising that they should refrain from occultism, examination malpractice, rape and other social vices which had infiltrated the academic environment of schools.
Mr Amenowode said the foundation of the university was divine in line with the hallmark of the EP Church as exponents of education in the Volta Region hence a pacesetter in the establishment of the premier university for the region.
The registrar of the university, Mr S.W.K Buame, urged the student leadership to chart a good path in their administration, adding that they should always elect good people into leadership positions.
He commended Prof. Aheto for donating 3,025 books to the university library.
Mr Buame stated that the collections on accountancy and marketing had made the library highly rated and resourceful.
In a welcoming address, the Student Representative Council (SRC) President, Mr Charles J. Adokor, said the SRC week would serve as a forum to inform government and other stakeholders on challenges facing the school.
He said although the university was young with teething problems, it was pertinent to provide a school bus and the completion of ongoing building projects to cater for the ever increasing student population.
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