Fill leadership vacuum and bridge skills gap – Haruna to ATU Governing Council

Minister for Education, Haruna Iddrisu, has called on the newly inaugurated Governing Council of Accra Technical University (ATU) to treat the long-standing vacancy in the Vice-Chancellor position as a matter requiring urgent and immediate action.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony on Tuesday, July 22, 2025, at the Ministry of Education in Accra, the Minister said the absence of a substantive Vice-Chancellor over the past two years has negatively impacted management and direction at the university.

“That vacancy necessarily will affect management,” he said. “I’m sure your Council will want to consider it as a matter of urgent action that will require attention.”

Accra Technical University has operated without a substantive Vice-Chancellor since 2023, following the end of the previous administration. Though an acting Vice-Chancellor has held the position, several stakeholders have raised concerns over the leadership vacuum’s implications for governance, decision-making, and institutional development.

Mr. Iddrisu urged the Council to work through proper procedures in appointing a new Vice-Chancellor, stressing the importance of transparency. “I know you personally—you were subjected to a transparent process. I’m confident that you will do the same,” he told the Chair.

He reminded the Council of ATU’s founding mandate to deliver higher education in engineering, technical, and vocational fields, as well as applied arts. The Minister praised the university’s record in that regard, saying, “The school has a niche and has a reputation among the country’s technical universities in terms of what you have done over the years.”

Mr. Iddrisu also acknowledged the university’s academic expansion, noting that ATU currently runs 12 Master’s and 24 Bachelor of Technology programmes with full accreditation.

He, however, expressed concern about a growing gap in the country’s technical education landscape—one that leaves out students who lack formal qualifications but still need skills to participate meaningfully in the economy.

“Polytechnics, as they were previously known, provided an opportunity for young people to come through the DBS window and fill a critical vacuum in our human capital development,” he said. “Now that polytechnics have become universities, what do we do for the category of young people who don’t have the entry qualification into a technical university, but who still need to be equipped with some training and skills that assure them of a livelihood?”

The Minister stressed that technical and vocational education must not be seen as a last resort. “Let us not see technical education as being dedicated or reserved for the less academically inclined or those young ones that are not conformists,” he stated. “We need to brand technical education as an acceptable alternative route to employability.”

He further called for national attention on uncompleted projects across public tertiary institutions, particularly technical universities. Mr. Iddrisu noted that some GETFund-sponsored infrastructure projects, including one at ATU, have remained incomplete for over a decade.

“There are many uncompleted GETFund projects—some dating back to 2012, 2014—that remain uncompleted. That comes as a cost to the state and a cost to the taxpayer,” he said. “Even now, when you ask the contractors to go to the site, they struggle to bear the cost. Valuations may not even reflect contract terms.”

He disclosed that his Ministry has asked GETFund to provide a full inventory of such projects so a completion plan can be developed. One such project at ATU, he said, is the administrative block, which is currently 85 percent complete. “We will support you to get that done,” he assured.

Mr. Iddrisu also made reference to Article 35 of the 1992 Constitution, which obliges successive governments to continue and complete ongoing state projects. “That was not the case in many instances,” he noted.

In closing, he encouraged the Council to use their depth of expertise and management skills to reposition the university and to contribute meaningfully to national development. “Once again, a hearty congratulations. The answer to answering Ghana’s employability question lies in emphasizing and investing in technical and vocational training and building the skills of our young people,” he added.

The inauguration was attended by senior officials from the Ministry of Education and representatives from Accra Technical University.