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Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom
An Assessment of the Staff Strength of the University for
Development Studies in the Light of the Standard Recommended
by the National Council for Tertiary Education for Teaching Staff
in Ghana's Public Universities
Bawah A. Kassim
University for Development Studies
Training and Development Unit, Ghana
Yussif Abdallah
University for Development Studies
Human Resource Section, P. O. Box TL 1350, Tamale, Ghana
ABSTRACT
The paper examined the staff strength of the University for Development Studies
(UDS) in the light of the standard recommended by the National Council for Tertiary
Education (NCTE) for staffing in Ghana's public universities, with an emphasis on
Teaching Staff (TS). The study uses the University's 2020/2021 Academic Year
payroll data, which was analyzed with Microsoft Excel 2016 for Windows. The study
found that, apart from the Lecturer rank that had a staff surplus of 65, the rest of
the ranks consisting of Professor, Associate Professor and Senior Lecturer ranks did
not meet the recommended standard by NCTE. The study also revealed that the
number of female TS was much lower than that of their male counterparts for all
ranks. The paper recommends that University Management should encourage all TS
to publish more articles in reputable journals along with community service and
teaching; in order to facilitate their promotion to higher ranks. The University
should target candidates with final degrees for further recruitment in order to
reduce the long waiting period required for staff with a master's degree to rise to
higher ranks.
Keywords: Higher Education, Teaching Staff, Public Universities, NCTE, UDS
INTRODUCTION
The nature of universities as Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL) has changed considerably
over the years [1-2] and these changes include funding regimes, educational technologies,
greater diversity of students and their expectations as well as academic programmes diversity
to keep pace with industrial needs [3-4]. Universities have also experienced significant growth
in student numbers with concomitant demand for academic staff [5]. Despite the growth in the
number of students, governments in many countries consider the importance of quality in
university education and consequently have established national quality assurance agencies
and boards [6-8, 3]. These boards and agencies are expected to ensure that the education
offered by institutions of higher education meets the current and future expectations of
students and those of employers and or industries [9]. and for this to happen, the staff of IHL
Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal – Vol. 8, No. 11
Publication Date: November 25, 2021
DOI:10.14738/assrj.811.11156.
Kassim, B. A., & Abdallah, Y. (2021). An Assessment of the Staff Strength of the University for Development Studies in the Light of
the Standard Recommended by the National Council for Tertiary Education for Teaching Staff in Ghana's Public Universities.
Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 8(11). 154-161.
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Kassim, B. A., & Abdallah, Y. (2021). An Assessment of the Staff Strength of the University for Development Studies in the Light of the Standard
Recommended by the National Council for Tertiary Education for Teaching Staff in Ghana's Public Universities. Advances in Social Sciences Research
Journal, 8(11). 154-161.
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/assrj.811.11156
must provide quality service to students. Quality service provision in IHL has always been an
issue of importance to educators, researchers and governments.
Many governments, including that of Ghana, are concerned about the standard of education at
all levels [10]. In Ghana, the Government has established the National Accreditation Board
(NAB), following the passage of the Provisional National Defense Council Law 317, 1993 (PNDC
Law 317, 1993) as amended into NAB Act 744, 2007 to ensure and maintain the quality of
education at the tertiary level comparable to others anywhere in the world. Apart from NAB,
the National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE) was established with primary responsibility
for ensuring the relevance of academic programmes to national development and the labour
market [11]. This is because government, as a major stakeholder in education, is concerned
with churning out graduates who meet the needs of industry and are capable of transforming
the economy. The employability of graduates is therefore a major concern not only for the
government but also for industry [12-13]. Universities are, therefore, expected to strive for the
employability of graduates from their institutions through quality in university education [14-
15]. The quality of the service provided to students is determined by the quantity and quality
of the staff of an institution. The quality of graduates produced by a university is determined by
the quality of services both curricular and co-curricular that are provided to the graduates
when they are being trained.
Thus, compliance with the standard on TS by IHL is legitimate and universities should strive to
achieve this standard, if not for anything but, for institutional competitiveness. It is in line with
this notion that this study was conducted. The overall objective of the study is to assess the
extent to which the UDS has metthe standards recommended by the NCTE for TS. It is envisaged
that the outcome of this study could probably lead to institutional transformation to make the
University competitive in the global economy. Therefore, the study assessed the staff strength
of UDS vis-à-vis the NCTE Standard for TS.
LITERATURE REVIEW
University staff can be classified as TS and Non-Teaching Staff [16]. TS in universities
worldwide generally play a tripartite role in teaching, research and community outreach. These
roles are accomplished through the recruitment, training and retention of quality TS at the
University coupled with other factors such as university administration, student quality,
infrastructure, and financial resources just to mention but a few [17]. The quality of a tertiary
institution or IHL is said to be directly proportional to the quality of its TS. This is because TS
nurture the production of graduates, products from research and community service [18].
There is also a need for adequate TS to match with the growing number of students in higher
education institutions. The caliber of TS is important to ensure quality educational service
through imparting knowledge to students [19]. This implies that TS should meet the aspirations
and expertise of their respective departments alongside national expectations while balancing
the demands of teaching, research and other administrative responsibilities [20].
A TS may be defined as an employee in an educational institution who officially provides
guidance to others in the attainment of knowledge, skills and abilities that are required for the
transformation and future development of an individual and society as a whole. A TS serves as
a catalyst to facilitate the acquisition of appropriate knowledge and skills while fostering
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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal (ASSRJ) Vol. 8, Issue 11, November-2021
Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom
acceptable social attitudes into the learners for the immediate and future development of any
society [21]. In this sense, TS should be responsible for the quality of teaching as opposed to
group responsibility [22]. This is based on the fact that qualified academics can foster successful
and quality teaching in IHL. It is imperative that the number of TS in IHL meets the minimum
standard to impart knowledge required by learners [23]. In other words, the number of TS in
IHL should meet the established standards prescribed by the NAB and NCTE in the case of
Ghanaian IHL context. This assertion is exemplified by the guidelines for National External
Quality Assurance Systems of the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher
Education (ENQA) which in part stated that “Institutions should have ways of satisfying
themselves that staff involved with the teaching of students are qualified and competent to do
so” [24 p.343, 3 p.76].
There is growing concern about the quality of TS exemplified by empirical research that TS are
critical to the learning of students. To guarantee and safeguard the quality of tuition offered to
students, TS should have some insight in their area of teaching. Therefore, there is a strong
justification for national quality assurance agencies to demand accountability from IHL on the
quality of their TS [25].
The function of the National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE), among others, is to
recommend national standards as well as norms such as setting benchmarks and norms on
staffing, financial costs, accommodation and utilization of time for the endorsement or approval
of the Minister in charge of the Ministry of Education and to see to it that any approved national
standards and norms by the institutions are implemented [12].
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Study Setting, Population and sampling
The study was conducted at the UDS which is located at Tamale and Nyankpala in the Northern
Region. The University has a pro-poor focus and its teaching methodology is a problem-based
approach. The University currently runs programmes which consist of science, humanities and
business. Data for the study were obtained from the Payroll Section of the University’s Finance
Directorate during the 2020/2021 Academic Year on August 1, 2021. The decision of the
researchers to use the payroll data was as a result of the accuracy and up-to-date records
maintained by the Payroll Section. The aspects of the payroll list that were considered for the
analysis were limited to the names of staff, staff identification numbers, job titles, dates of
appointment and dates of birth. The total number of the University’s staff at the time of the data
collection on August 1, 2021 was 1,692.
Data Analysis
The data were analysed using Microsoft Excel 2016 for Windows and presented in both tabular
and pictorial forms. The presentation was done in the order of Staff by Category, TS as well as
general staff strength in the light of NCTE standards. In presenting the number of staff by
category, staff were divided into Senior Member, Senior Staff and Junior Staff irrespective of
whether they were teaching or non-teaching. On TS, the paper focuses mainly on staff rank, age
distribution and gender; because these variables will establish comparison between the
University’s staff strength and the NCTE recommended standard.