A visiting Professor at the University of Concordia in Canada, Prof. Akosua Adomako Ampofo, believes that quite a number of Ghanaians do not place enough value on knowledge and research. According to her, most Ghanaians do not conduct research to broaden their knowledge in various subjects because they do not appreciate its importance.
“I don’t think we appreciate the value of education sufficiently,” the Professor lamented when she was quizzed by Host of the Citi Breakfast Show, Benard Avle. The country’s research institutions, educational institutions and stakeholders in education, have often expressed concern about the failure of successive governments to commit more resources for research which directly affects national development. The University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) for instance, has embarked on several strikes to compel government to pay them their book and research allowance.
Emphasizing the need for research to be encouraged in Ghana, the Professor, who is also a Lecturer at the University of Ghana said “Research is mightily important. No society has been built without doing research and without investing in innovations” she noted. “Anything that builds the society has come out of research and innovation and a lot of that have come out of higher education institutions, Whether it is in the laboratory, whether it is the field, this is where knowledge is created. No society has developed without investing in its education,” she emphasized.
