Massification of university education 

By Josephine Odjidja(Dr)

In a recent publication, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) announced the admission of 50,895 new students for its 2024/25 academic year.

It is encouraging that the youth are striving to obtain tertiary education to develop their careers and contribute to the development of the country. However, it is deeply concerning as it raises the question of whether KNUST has the capacity to balance the challenges of massive access, quality and the relevance of education being provided.

Several studies on massification have found out that in most African countries, massive access to universities has not been met with the corresponding increase in resources.

While, it has been argued that massification has widened access and reduced elitism, there are consequences if massification is not met with innovative approaches to mitigate the negative impact on teaching and learning, human and physical resources, financing, staff to student ratios, increased workload for staff and quality of life for both staff and students.

The debilitating effect is a decline in standards and expectations, devaluation of university education and a mass production of half-baked graduates who are not employable due to poor quality of education.

A review of tertiary enrolment data suggests there has been annual increases in student admissions over the years, however, it could be argued that a major contributing factor to massification in recent years appears to be the ripple effect of increased access to senior secondary education following the implementation of Free Senior High School Policy without the corresponding increase in resources.

After Senior High School (SHS) or Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), one has the option of either pursuing university, technical university, professional institution or training college education. However, a review of tertiary enrolment data (Figure 1) from 2015/16 – 2020/21 academic years indicates that there is an excessively high number of student admissions at the universities in comparison with the other tertiary pathways.

Fig. 1: Tertiary Enrolment from 2015/16 to 2020/21 Academic Years

Source:  Culled from UNESCO National Commission Country Report 2022

The figure shows a high preference for university education over the other tertiary pathways. It is instructive to note that each of the tertiary pathways listed in Figure 1 has its role in society and Ghana’s labour market would require skilled labour from each of the pathways to meet the needs of the country.

The Way Forward

A review of the tertiary education pathways in Ghana indicates that, in addition to university, training colleges and specialised institutions, there is the Early World of Work pathway which has not been fully explored. This pathway lists options such as entrepreneurship, low-level employment, vocational training and apprenticeship but these options are rarely mentioned in tertiary education discourse.

These options could provide attractive avenues for students if the government provides an enabling environment for implementation. The way forward is to shift focus from the traditional pathways to exploring the Early World of Work pathways and a change in mindsets through careers education. The Early World of Work pathways are:

Degree Apprenticeship – Degree apprenticeships could offer an attractive avenue to SHS/TVET graduates as an alternative to university education.  Ghana has a National Apprenticeship Scheme (NAS) which is guided by the National Apprenticeship Policy (NAP),however, it is not clear whether the NAP covers degree apprenticeships or not. Currently, apprenticeship occurs in the informal employment sector with 80%-90% of apprenticeships provided by the informal sector and 10% provided by the TVET (National Apprenticeship Policy 2020).

In addition, the current NAS appears to be linked to TVET but degree apprenticeships may not necessarily be in TVET.  It is, therefore, important that in the NAP, a clear distinction is made between TVET and apprenticeship.

Degree apprenticeship is widely practised in the world as an alternative to university education. In the United Kingdom, apprenticeships levels have qualification levels and their equivalent levels in education. For instance, one can study an Intermediate Apprenticeship at Level 2 to obtain 5 GCSE passes or one can study a Degree Apprenticeship at Level 6 and 7 to obtain a bachelor’s or master’s degree.

Degree apprenticeships are usually a collaboration between the government and employers to fund training which combines classroom instruction and practical training in real work environment over a period of 1-5 years depending on the industry.

The current Apprenticeship policy should be revised to make a provision for degree apprenticeships, give clear directions on qualification levels and how it will be implemented. Degree apprenticeship will ease the burden on universities, limit the massification of university education and reduce graduate unemployment in the country.

Higher Technical Qualifications – TVET in Ghana provides higher technical vocational degrees. Apart from degree apprenticeships, SHS/TVET graduates can obtain degrees in TVET but the sector is struggling to make any impact due to low public perception. To boost confidence in TVET as an alternative to university education, the government can improve data collection mechanisms on quality assurance indicators including the destination of TVET graduates, embark on an active campaign to share success stories of TVET graduates and offer incentives to employers who recruit TVET graduates.

Entrepreneurship and Low-Level Employment – For students who would like to venture into entrepreneurship and low-level employment, the government should introduce a policy that supports training and loans for small businesses and start-ups, and a dedicated national careers service through the youth employment agencies.

Careers Education and Guidance – Central to the implementation of tertiary education pathways is a stable careers education and guidance programme that is embedded in the curriculum at the SHS/TVET levels. Several studies investigating the factors that influence students’ career choices have been carried out and it has been reported in some schools, there is a complete lack of career guidance and counselling infrastructure to support their students in their career decision-making process.

In a recent survey conducted across nine African countries including Ghana, about 90% of secondary school leavers aspire to pursue higher education (The ALU 2025 Africa Workforce Readiness Survey Report). University education is only one of the pathways available after SHS/TVET education.

It is not the only tertiary pathway available in Ghana. With the high numbers of students who, probably, view university education as the only pathway to pursue, it raises questions about the effectiveness of careers education in secondary schools and public perception of the other tertiary pathways.

According to the Gatsby Benchmarks for Good Career Guidance, an effective careers education and guidance programme must ensure that students understand learning opportunities available, and students must have an encounter with employers and employees.

Such an encounter would allow career qualification routes to be discussed, and employers must be encouraged to discuss all the tertiary pathways as acceptable and recognisable qualifications in the labour market and not focus solely on university degrees. Industry players must be seen to be recognise qualifications from other tertiary pathways apart from university degrees.

Massification of university education has already produced half-baked graduates who do not meet the needs of the labour market. As a result, not only is Ghana faced with graduate unemployment, but the quality of graduates produced is an additional concern. Clearly, massive access has been prioritised over quality and relevance. Education has three tenets – quality, access and relevance. To achieve educational progress, these tenets must be achieved simultaneously and nonlinearly. An education system that seeks to prioritise one tenet over the other or achieves the tenets sequentially will fall behind in a fast-paced socioeconomic world.

In conclusion, it will take longer to transform education if issues are addressed in a sequential manner.  The government must, therefore, adopt a leapfrog approach to transforming education, whereby issues of access, quality and relevance are addressed simultaneously and rapidly.

In other words, while increasing access to education, the government must take steps to improve quality and ensure education meets the needs of the labour market, all at the same time. With the National Education Forum currently ongoing in Ghana, it is hoped that massification of university education and the strategies to develop and promote other tertiary pathways will be given due attention.

 Dr. Odjidja is an Education Quality Specialist and founder of Education Quality Network.

Email: [email protected]                                                                

Website: www.educationqualitynetwork.com

^{Education Quality Ghana}

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