Sam Afrane speaking at the graduation
PROFESSOR SAM K. Afrane, President of the Christian Service University College (CSUC) in Kumasi has appealed to the government to develop an institutional framework with appropriate policies and programmes to harness graduate research in the country.
Specifying the various ways this can be achieved, Prof. Afrane implored the government to give direction as to what graduate students should spend their time, energies and intellectual abilities on in terms of research topics.
“In other words, they should set the Research Agenda for graduation research in Ghana. To set this agenda well, all relevant stakeholders must be consulted in identifying research problems and issues of paramount interests to the nation. These include all the various industry players, the academic community, city managers, traditional leaders and others,” he submitted.
The academician projected that through the agenda setting approach, it will be much easier to ensure proper uptake and utilisation of the research findings because the firms and institutions that funded the research will be eagerly waiting for the findings for application.
A section of the graduands
The CSUC President, who was speaking at the 46th graduation ceremony of the University College recently, also suggested that students who are selected or who choose to work on some of these approved research topics from industry or other fields should be given research grants.
He noted that the government scholarship for graduate education should be directed to support students working on important research problems that are of high priority to the nation.
Prof. Afrane said Ghana cannot continue to allow the valuable research energies of graduate students to go waste, stressing that if the above recommendations are adopted, business and development decisions will be informed by solid research findings.
According to him, “Anecdotal evidence available suggests that globally, much of the research leading to scientific innovations, discoveries and breakthroughs are conducted by graduate students.”
According to him, multinational companies like Microsoft, General Electric, Amazon and others in the western world rely on many young, energetic and brilliant students who provide them with high profile and sensitive research through grants and scholarships.
Many rich hi-technology companies, the academician noted, provide millions of dollars as research grants to universities and professors to help them find alternative solutions to problems of their firms in order to stay competitive in their respective industries and markets.
He bemoaned the situation in Ghana and other African countries where graduate education is growing but its research potential is not being harnessed to promote the development of business, industry and the nation.
FROM David Afum, Kumasi