IPR worry about mismatch in the academic competencies

Accra, Nov. 14, GNA - The Leadership of Institute of Public Relations, (IPR), Ghana has expressed concern about the seemingly mismatch in the academic competencies and professional skills sets of graduates being produced from the country’s institutions.

It said the 21st century public relations professional like all others, must be balanced in theory and practice in order to discharge their roles effectively.

A Communiqué issued by the Leadership of IPR Ghana at the end of the National Conference and 25th Annual General Meeting (AGM) said the Institute was undergoing a process of self-renewal by revisiting the curriculum of its own professional accreditation programme to make it abreast with international best practices.

The National Conference and 25th AGM was on the theme: “Deriving value from values – a test for corporate governance.”

It said the Institute would also collaborate and engage more meaningfully with training institutions to assist with curriculum issues that would provide mutually beneficial rewards for both the Institute and the training institutions

It said the Institute has also noted with great interest the professional development of the practitioner and admonishes all practitioners to take Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programmes more seriously.

“The current dispensation requires that the professional is always up-to-date with current trends and thinking in public relations in order to be effective and efficient in the discharge of their obligations,” it added.

The Communiqué said the Institute would undertake a crowd source campaign among its members to solicit ideas to incorporate in its new revamped CPDs in the coming year 2019.

“Members are entreated to share their ideas and make meaningful contributions when required of them,” it said.

It said the professional public relations space continues to decline owing to the lack of adherence to professional values, lack of recognition of time honoured code of ethics and unprofessional relationships with media counterparts.

It, therefore, called on its members to re-orient themselves and adhere to the highest standards of values and ethics demanded of them as professionals in public relations.

“The practitioner is only as good as his/her integrity and it is important that the integrity is safeguarded at all times,” it said.

On corporate governance and the role of the practitioner, the communiqué said the Institute was saddened to hear and read that numerous institutions were collapsing or have collapsed due primarily to bad corporate governance issues.

It said the Institute finds the situation unacceptable and called on public relations professionals to be more assertive and fulfil their role as the corporate conscience of their organisations.

It said the leadership of IPR Ghana believed that public interest was of greater importance than private reward and at all times, the professional must ensure that their organisations deal with their stakeholders in truth, with full information and perform responsibly as their vision and mission statements suggest.

It said the institute was committed to liaising with other professional Associations to ensure that issues of national importance were discussed in an impartial and professional manner for the betterment of Ghanaians and Ghana at large.

The Communiqué said the institute would support all efforts at ensuring that appropriate legal regimes were put in place for all professional bodies, including its own, in order to sanitize the professional environment and eliminate the quacks who give professionals a bad name.

It said the institute was saddened that a certain culture of impunity, apathy and total disregard for established law and norms was creeping into the country; this unfortunately has now become the new culture.

The IPR Ghana, therefore, called on government, civil society organizations, religious bodies and well-meaning Ghanaians to speak out at all times on issues that threaten the moral fabric of society.

“Ghanaians must not be afraid of being tagged, the Institute is ever ready to facilitate a national dialogue on restoration of national values and invites all and sundry to make themselves available when the date is set,” it added.

GNA

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