Pretending to be scientists: why the low level of science in Ghana?

After long and careful observation, I now know the exact and the fundamental reasons why the standard of science in Ghana is so low compared to countries, which were at Ghana’s level at the time of independence. The efforts made by Dr. Kwame Nkrumah to set up the institutions needed to pursue science and apply it to the development of this country have generally not been followed up. This is largely because trained Ghanaian scientists have not been genuinely committed to science and the pursuit of science research in this country. Developed countries achieved their improved quality of life largely by the use of science and technology and it is often said that Africa's development gap is a technology gap.

It is surprising to see that over the past 50 years no real effort has been made to bring the benefits of science and technology to the development process; it always about economic management and IMF and World Bank and ‘donors’, etc. etc.... It should be obvious by now that until someone in this country decides to make the pursuit of science and technology the centerpiece of our development programme, we are not getting anywhere and poverty will continue to rise.

The current mediocre situation

Albert Einstein said: “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” For the sake of social justice and as a matter of urgency, Ghana’s current leadership must make a critical intervention in order to prevent an obvious future tragedy. A tour of all institutions of higher learning in this country will show the sorry state of laboratories where training is supposed to be conducted.

There are hardly any functioning pieces of equipment for gifted students to use for their training. Laboratory supplies are never adequate and yet university students are made to pay academic facility user fees, which are supposed to supplement the government subvention. While it is easy to blame everything on the government, it is also obvious that Ghanaian scientists do not have a basic commitment to science as others do elsewhere in the world.

 The leaders of science institutions and departments fail to inspire up-and-coming scientists to rise to excellent status but rather restrain them so they continue to operate with the mediocre standards that are contributing to more ignorance and more poverty. The few science-based and science-driven companies operating in Ghana thrive only on wholesale importation of technology and products.

The critical intervention

The risk of causing human resource loss to this country is great; what has been lost already is not that bad but we cannot afford any increase in the rate of loss. As the global population grows, there will be increasing competition for resources and the only way to make sure that these insufficient amounts go round is to unleash the power of technology. Each country will have to deploy its own technology using its own, very well trained human resource. This why I am screaming for Ghana’s leadership to do the youth of today a big favor by changing a system of science education that is only programming the youth for obvious future defeat. It is necessary to ignite a rapid overhaul of the current system by first establishing science and engineering resource centers in all secondary schools and tertiary institutions.

These centers should be staffed in part by Ghanaian scientists in the Diaspora, who should be engaged on a contract that allows them to spend one month a year in Ghana to run clinics for students of science and engineering. Such clinics should be run outside the current curricula and the outside the current education management system across the country. They should be run as a special initiative that is designed to offset the intellectual and skills bankruptcy of the current educational system. Making systematic use of Ghanaian scientists in the Diaspora will help ensure that the youth of today get opportunities equivalent to those of their counterparts in industrialized countries.

Creating institutions of excellence in science and technology

The financial resources needed to create institutions of science and technologies in Ghana are currently available; the problem is that they are being misapplied. The academic facility user fees that have been paid since 1998 or so amount to huge sums of money but I daresay that the state of facilities does not reflect the monies collected to date. How can our education managers act in a manner that hurts the prospects of future generation?

We do not need any extraordinary arrangement to kick-start the creation of such institutions. We just need leaders and managers who love the country to begin the process of applying available resources correctly. They should also enlist the practical support of Ghanaian scientists in the Diaspora to turn the current situation around. If Ghanaian scientists would demonstrate clear and strong commitment to science and research, this alone would give impetus towards realizing the dream of first-class science centers in Ghana.

The political leadership needs to wake up, see the bad leadership it is providing, and sit up. We need leaders who understand the elements of our being and who do not focus solely on ‘economic and financial management’ as the only way of developing a country, when that is actually the least of our problems.
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Patrick Kobina Arthur (PhD),
parthur14@gmail.com
http://pakar1-corner.blogspot.com/