Ghana: Students of Cape Coast Poly on rampage over University conversion

Students of the Cape Coast polytechnic are on rampage on campus over the failure of the school to make it onto the first list of polytechnics being converted to universities. The irate students have blocked the school’s council chairman from entering the premises. The entrance to the home of the rector has also been barricaded, making it impossible for him to leave home for a scheduled council meeting at the school.
The angry students are accusing the authorities of the school of not doing enough to get the school covered in the first batch of polytechnics being considered by the government. Police officers have been dispatched to the campus to restore order as the rampaging youth are preventing vehicles from entering the premises.

The conversion of polytechnics into technical universities, which was one of the manifesto promises of the Mahama administration ahead of the 2012 elections, is intended to bridge the gap between academia and industry. It is also directed at bringing up students with employable skills for economic transformation. So far, six polytechnics have been selected to benefit from the exercise.