Produce More PhD Students Or Risk Shutdown- UG Vice Chancellor Warns HODs

The Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Prof. Ebenezer Oduro Owusu has revealed that plans are underway to shut down departments at the University that are unable to produce a reasonable number of PhD students.

According to him, it is not a worthwhile to have a department that cannot provide training in doctoral studies.

“Every department that cannot command the reasonable number of PhD students is not worth being a department and we shouldn’t be afraid to collapse that department and give room for departments that are ready to grow, and this will come very soon,” the VC said.

The vice chancellor said this at the inauguration of the doctoral academy and center for climate change and sustainability studies at the University of Ghana.

He underscored the importance of PhD training in the country, saying it will ensure that the country is able to produce adequate teaching staff to meet the growing demands at the tertiary institutions.

Professor Ebenezer Owusu Oduro mentioned that the minimum requirement now for teaching in tertiary institutions is a PhD qualification, adding that training in doctoral studies is significant to the development of the continent at large.

“Anything PhD training is important, it’s important for us as an institution, it's important for us as a nation and as a continent of Africa," he added.

He further underscored the need for all relevant stakeholders to work collectively to ensure the number of PhDs are increased at the various tertiary institutions.