Dr Lawrence Kannae Appeals To Govt To Give Research Grants To Professors To Help Promote Research

Vice President of Wisconsin International University College Ghana, Dr Lawrence Kannae, has stressed the need for the government to give the teaching professors research grants to help promote research and make teaching and learning more useful to the society.

According to him, a university without a strong research background can't be considered as the best, adding that it's only through research that new knowledge can be added.

He stated that the GET FUND assistance should be extended to private universities. The GET FUND ACT should be amended so that such support can be extended to private universities. 

"We also contribute to the production of human resources to this country and beyond so we deserve assistance in this regard.

"Scholarship facilities have been awarded to many brilliant but needy students. We give a lot of attention to such students,"  he said.

Dr Lawrence Kannae made this statement when he was speaking during a visit by the members of  Parliamentary Select Committee on Education together with some key selected members of Parliamentary Press Corps to some three Universities in Accra.

The universities visited were Wisconsin International University College Ghana ,Accra Technical and Regent to ascertain some of the challenges facing by these tertiary educational institutions.

The visit aimed at identifying the challenges of these tertiary institutions and adopt pragmatic measures to ensure that the educational activities of these tertiary institutions are saved in the country.

The visit also serve as a viable platform for the select Committee on Education in Parliament to encourage the management of the three institutions to work effectively and efficiently towards achieving the goals and objectives of the institutions.

The Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Education, Mr Peter Kwasi Nortsu-Kotoe assured the management of the three tertiary institutions about the measures the Committee together with the Finance Minister and Minister of Education put in place to help sustain the educational policies and strategies of the private Universities in Ghana.

He acknowledged the contribution of private universities in promoting quality education. As a committee we are happy that private universities are playing a very major role. 

He stated  that the materials for educational purposes could get waivers so "we will look at it well and see how best we can do that. 

"Though there is the possibility of people abusing it, I believe that genuine schools deserve tax waivers on educational materials. 

"Background in law is very critical for parliamentary duties so new MPs need to have that exposure or education so we are looking at collaborating with schools to ensure that," he stated.

He stresed for education of the needy students on how they can grab opportunities of the students loan fund or GETFUND access.

At the Accra Technical University, the management of the University appealed to government to help the University provide quality nurses and doctors who would be needed in the country.

At the Regent University College at Weija-Gbawe University in Accra, the management of University also urged the government to devise contingency security measures to prevent the rampart reported cases of pedestrian accidents near school and in school zone.

He said that pedestrian accidents near school and in school zones are a serious concern, with vehicles often involved in such accidents, especially those involving pedestrians crossing the school area  of the Accra- Malam-Kasoa main road.

"We are calling on government through the Ministry of Roads and Highways and Ghana Highways Authority (GHA) to, as a matter of urgency construct the crossover in the school area to prevent the accidents of killing pedestrians crossing the road.

To this end, the Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee assured management of three institutions to table all their challenges, concerns and issues which were brought to their notice during the discussion before the Minister of Finance and Minister of Education to expedite action plans to resolve them to held sustain educational activities of the universities.