Assessing the Narratives of the Role of Higher Education in Northern Ghana: The Case of University for Development Studies

Authors

  • Emmanuel Intsiful Graduate School of Governance and Leadership (GSGL) - Almond Institute, Accra-Ghana

Keywords:

University, economic development, innovation, third mission and human capital development

Abstract

Purpose: The main purpose of this study was to examine the role of University of Development Studies (UDS) in enhancing socio-economic development in northern Ghana, and secondly, to ascertain whether or not knowledge production and the universities are part of national development strategy.

Methodology: In aiming to achieve the descriptive and exploratory objective of the study, the research design adopted for this study was a Case study. The study employed a qualitative approach as its research strategy. A semi-structured interview guide and document analysis was used to answer the research questions. A critical data analysis was done based on open-coding, axial coding, and selective coding.

Results: The study revealed that the "˜university as an instrument' and "˜university as an ancillary' were the dominant notion emphasized as the key role of UDS, which in essence translate into minimal or somewhat absence of use of Knowledge production and the university in national development strategy.

Policy Recommendation: It is recommended that a policy framework  should be agreed by key stakeholders that will link the university activities to national development plan which will not only stimulate socio-economic development but to contribute towards the global knowledge economy since global happenings has permeated both national and local levels.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

Emmanuel Intsiful, Graduate School of Governance and Leadership (GSGL) - Almond Institute, Accra-Ghana

Lecturer & Programmes Manager (MBA, PGDBA), Department of Business Administration

References

Bailey T, Cloete N and Pillay P, (2011), University and economic development in Africa, CHET

Barnett, R., Parry, G and Coate, K. (2001). Conceptualizing Curriculum Change. Teaching in Higher Education, Vol 6 Issues 4. Pp 435-449

Bloom D, Canning D and Chan K (200. Higher Education and Economic Development in Africa. Washington DC: The World Bank

Castells, M. (2001). Universities as dynamic systems of contradictory functions. In: J. Muller, N.Cloete and S. Badat (eds.) Challenges of Globalisation. South African Debates with Manuel Castells. Cape Town: Maskew Miller Longman, 206-224.

Creswell, J. W., (2003) Research Design: Qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods Approaches,2nd edition, USA: Sage Publications

Cloete N, Maassen P, Pillay P, Bailey T, Pinheiro R and Muller J (2010) Higher Education and Economic Development: Analytical Framework. Cape Town: Centre for Higher Education Transformation

Draft Education Sector Performance Report (ESPR) (2012), Ghana MOE (Ministry of Education,), Accra

Effah, P. (2003). Ghana. In D. Teffera & P. G. Altbach, (Eds.), African higher education: An International Reference Handbook (pp. 338- 349). Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.

Government White Paper on the Report of the Education (2007) Reform Review Committee, Accra

Kaburise, J.B.K. (2003). New Variations on the African University: The UDS Experience with Developing an Alternative Approach to Tertiary Education. University for Development Studies in Ghana. A case study prepared for a Regional Training Conference on Improving Tertiary Education in Sub-Saharan Africa: Things That Work

Lyotard, J. F (1984). The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge, Tr, Bennington, G. and Massumi, B. Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press.

Lester, R. K. (2005). Universities, Innovation, and the Competitiveness of Local Economies - A Summary Report from the Local Innovation Project"”Phase I, MIT Industrial Performance Center Working Paper 05-010. Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Maassen, P (2012) Universities and the effects of external funding: Sub-Saharan Africa and the Nordic countries. In: A.R. Nelson and I.P. Wei (eds) The Global University- Past, present and future perspectives. Palgrave. pp. 231-254

Maassen P & Cloete N (2010) Higher education, donor organizations, nation states and development: The public donor dimension in Africa. In: RM Basset & A Maldonado- Maldonado (eds), International Organizations and Higher Education Policy: Thinking globally, acting locally. New York: Routledge, pp.251- 279

Moja T, Muller J & Cloete N (1996). Towards new forms of regulation in higher education: The case of South Africa. Higher education, 32:129-155

MEST (2010). National Science, Technology and Innovation Policy. Accra: Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology

MoE (2003) Education Strategic Plan 2003 to 2015. Volume 1: Policies, targets and strategies. Accra: Ministry of Education

NDPC (2005) Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS II) (2006"2009). Accra: National Development Planning Commission

NDPC (2006) Implementation of the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy 2003"2005: 2005 Annual Progress Report. Accra: National Development Planning

NDPC (2008) Implementation of the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy: 2007 Progress Report. Accra: National Development Planning Commission.

Newman, John Henry. (1852/2008). The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Idea of a University Defined and Illustrated: In Nine Discourses Delivered to the Catholics of Dublin: Project Gutenberg.

Neuman, W. L. (2000). Social research methods: qualitative and quantitative approaches. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (2007). Higher Education and Regions: Globally Competitive, Locally Engaged, Paris.

Pillay, P. (2010a). Linking Higher Education and Economic Development: Implication for Africa from Three Successful Systems. Higher Education Transformation (CHET), South Africa.

Pillay, P. (2011). Higher Education and Economic Development: A Literature Review. Cape Town: CHET

Robson, C., (2002) Real World Research, 2nd edition, Oxford: Blackwell (first published: 1993)

SAPRI, Ghana (2001). The Impact of SAP on Access to and Quality of Tertiary Education. Ghana. Retrieved on March. 18, 2015, from http://www.saprin.org/ghana/research/gha_education.pdf

UNICEF (2007), Retrieved 20 December 2016 from http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/ghana_statistics.html

World Bank (2008). Accelerating Technological Catch-Up: Tertiary Education for Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa Available

World Bank (2002). Constructing Knowledge Societies: New Challenges for Tertiary

Education. Washington DC: World Bank.

Yin, R. K. (2014). Case study research: Design and methods (5 ed.): sage.

Yin, R. K. (2003). Case study research: Design and methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage

Downloads

Published

2017-02-05

How to Cite

Intsiful, E. (2017). Assessing the Narratives of the Role of Higher Education in Northern Ghana: The Case of University for Development Studies. African Journal of Education and Practice, 2(1), 26–42. Retrieved from https://iprjb.org/journals/index.php/AJEP/article/view/262

Issue

Section

Articles