Education: KNUST vs. NCAT

I can sincerely say that week 5 in Ghana I feel adjusted. I do have my moments where I miss my family and friends, and life at North Carolina A&T. I keep myself motivated by saying the time will come to go home but, seize the great opportunity of living in another country. My mom will be visiting me this week. She will be arriving on Sunday, September 19^th which is also my birthdayJ. I am eagered to spend 2 whole weeks with my mom in Ghana. This is her first trip to an African country so we going to be adventurous together.

For the time that I have been here many Ghanaians tend to ask me how the education is different from North Carolina A&T and Kwame Nkrumah. I answer this question firstly by saying education is education. The courses they are teaching here are the same courses taught in the U.S. For example this semester, I am taking Thermodynamics, Strength of Materials, Basic Mechanics (Statics & Dynamics), Mechanical Engineering Lab I, and Electrical Circuits. If I was at North Carolina A&T this semester, I would be taking the same courses. Then I further explain that there are differences in the resources for students and class sizes. The population at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology is approximately twenty five thousand students which more than double the population at North Carolina A&T. Typically at North Carolina A&T my courses have roughly 35 students. While my courses here have roughly 135 students. I am still adjusting to the class size difference.

Resources available to students for courses are limited. Ownership of textbooks is not common amongst students here. The library is used heavily for their books and photo copied notes are distributed to students. The price for photo copied notes is roughly five Ghana Cedis. Students here have to search for the resources compared to the majority of students in the U.S. who have every resource at the palm on their hands.

When it comes to the actual lectures they are operated a little differently. Most of my classes, I attend less frequently but for an extended amount of time. Three of my courses, I attend class twice a week and the other two courses; I attend class only once a week. While in the US, I went to most classes 3 times a week for an hour. The conduct of classes is different too. In the mist of class, there are not many questions asked by students nor are there many side conversations going on. I believe with the class sizes being larger, there has to be a minimal to class tasks that do not involve the course subject being taught. There is also a class representative for each class. This individual is the direct connection between the students in the class and the instructor. Typically, there is no one on one time with instructors here because of the size of the student population. Therefore, the class representative is responsible for distributing information to students from the lecturer.

The cumulative of grades are different too. Most of your grade is composed on your mid-term and final. There are a few homework assignment and quiz grades. For my courses my finals are 70% of my grade while mid terms are roughly 25% of the overall grade.

I will say students here take education much more serious. When you walk into a library its typically silent with everyone concentrated. I see they start their days earlier and end them early. There is more studying going on through the day time than at night. Ghanaians are not taking their education for granted. Many would also like to obtain their Masters or PhD in the U.S.

As a result, the students in Ghana and the U.S. are learning the same information in courses but in varied educational systems.