He recalled instances where some poor parents who were unable to cater for two or more of their children at the polytechnic, had called on the authorities to withdraw one of them to pave the way for the other or others to complete their courses. ProfNsiah-Gyabaah, who gave the advice at the] 4th matriculation ceremony of the S-Poly in the Brong Ahafo Region, noted that while they called on the government and other stakeholders to 'increase funding for education, it was also important for parents to adopt family planning as a means to reduce the number of children they had so -that they could provide better education for them.
This year, the polytechnic received 6,612 applications for admission into various tertiary and Jl0n-tertiary programmes. Out of the number, 4,536 were admitted, out of which 2,052 or 41.3 per cent are females.
The rector noted that, the cost of education was increasing, but parents were making big sacrifices to educate their children, and, therefore, urged the students to comport themselves and work assiduously to achieve their academic objectives.
"You acquired adequate information about the functioning of the polytechnic during the orientation week. The rules and regulations are meant to provide you with a congenial environment and the security you need for your studies and I have no doubts whatsoever that, you will comport yourselves and work hard to achieve your aims," he further advised.
Prof. Nsiah-Gyabaah again urged the students to let the handbook on behaviour and attitude to studies and their association with their fellow students and other members of the polytechnic community be their guide since any student who misconducted himself or herself would be dismissed from the institution.
According to him, education was an investment with a long gestation period, and that there were high expectations from many quarters, including parents, friends, well-wishers, local communities and the nation at large, adding that at the end of their training, the society expected to receive some returns from them.
"The returns would be measured in a number of ways such as the extent to which you would be able to assist your communities to identify, analyze and find solutions to their problems and improve their standard of living and your contribution to society will to a large extent, also determine the quality of training you have received from the polytechnic", he observed. Prof. Nsiah-Gyabaah further declared, "We' expect you to graduate from S-Poly as skilful, knowledgeable, resourceful practitioners in your chosen fields of endeavour and be imbued with etiquette, patriotism and have empathy for your fellow human beings and be ready and capable of assisting in the management of a dynamic society".
He announced that expansion programmes, in areas such as Hospitality and Tourism Management and Electrical/Electronics Engineering, Civil Engineering, Ceramics, Brick and Tile Technology and other programme areas that would accelerate the industrial transformation of the country were being planned.
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