African Universities should Practice what they Teach in their Own Administrative Operations – Prof. Opoku Onyinah
The immediate past Chancellor of Pentecost University, Apostle Prof. Opoku Onyinah (Rtd.) has urged university administrators in Africa to integrate the things their universities teach in their own operations.
Aps. Prof. Onyinah made the call when he delivered a message at the second session of the 2020 Management and Staff Prayer and Fasting Retreat of the University. He spoke on the theme “Building a Christian University to Reflect God’s Glory”.
According to Aps. Prof. Opoku Onyinah, the educational system in Africa has taught us to celebrate theory with little room for practice. This, he said, is also a troubling reality in the administration of most universities.
“Very often, when we talk about integrating theory to practice, people easily cite engineers and other professions as teaching theories, but our university’s where we teach business and customer service are also victims”, Apostle Onyinah said.
He added that, in most cases, universities only pay attention to teaching but unable to provide quality service to their students as they should. “For example, universities allow administrative weakness to fester thereby affecting simple deliverables such as a request for transcript”, Prof Onyinah added.
He attributed these poor services to weak administrative structures, organizational conflicts, poor staff motivation among others. He said, “as institutions that teach people how to handle such bottlenecks, universities should be most efficient in dealing with them”
He, therefore, urged African Universities to invest heavily in all avenues such as technology, staff welfare and methodologies that will help them practice what they teach whether it is in hardcore core or social science.
The Management and Staff Retreat is part of the corporate culture of Pentecost University. It is organized every year to pray, strategize and usher in the new academic year.
This year’s edition began on Tuesday 22nd and will end on Wednesday 23rd September 2020. It is on the theme “Reflecting God’s Glory in Our Work-Life”
