The Vice Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast Professor, Dominic Kuupole, has called for a change in the academic focus of polytechnics.

He said the ongoing conversion of the polytechnics into technical universities will be fruitless unless this is done.

President Mahama has begun the process of converting polytechnics into universities in accordance with his party’s manifesto in 2012.

Already, he has inaugurated the Takoradi Technical University into a university.

He said the conversion marks the beginning of a new chapter in the country’s technical educational history.  

However, speaking to Joy News in an interview, Prof. Kuupole said until the technical universities re-focus on technical education the conversion will be a waste of time and resources.

He said the conversion does not change what they do, adding, “you can change the container but once the content in that container is not changed, you have not achieved anything.”

Prof Kuupole said polytechnics were established to train middle manpower for industry and businesses, yet this is not done.

“There is a shift in the balance, there is a shift in the focus. We should not allow that, we should develop the sciences, we should develop technology,” he emphasized.

Meanwhile, government has announced the conversion of six polytechnics in the first phase of the exercise by September this year.

The Cape Coast and the Tamale Polytechnics are been reassessed to be added to the six already approved institutions ready to be converted into technical universities.