Educationist Nii Armah Addy has criticised the lack of pastoral counselling in Ghanaian universities, warning that without it, institutions risk neglecting the moral and personal development of students beyond academics.
His comments follow a recent publication by the Office of the Registrar, which outlined sanctions against over 100 students found guilty of various forms of misconduct.
Speaking on Campus Exclusive, he stressed the need for universities to go beyond punitive measures and invest in character development.
“Pastoral counseling is almost non-existent in our universities,” he said. “We need it to guide students outside of academics counseling on their behavior, what brings them shame and what brings them pride.”
He also called for strict adherence to the Ghana Tertiary Education Council’s (GTEC) recommended lecturer-to-student ratio, raising concerns that current staffing constraints leave lecturers overwhelmed and hinder both continuous assessment and effective student supervision.
“Lecturers are overwhelmed with a lot of students, which makes it difficult to rigorously follow continuous assessment. As a result, students end up fighting for the majority of their final score in sit-down exams,” he noted.
He further added that addressing this challenge requires long-term investment in building academic capacity. “If the problem lies with an inadequate number of qualified professionals, there is a need to invest in providing scholarships for more people to pursue PhDs and return to teach in our universities,” he said.
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Story by: Sophie Okang | univers.ug.edu.gh
Edited by: Cindy Selasi Humade
