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President John Dramani Mahama has appealed to the polytechnic technical universities to focus on their core mandate of training students in technical and vocational skills.

A deviation from their focal point, he said, would defeat the purpose of converting the polytechnics into technical universities.

President Mahama made the appeal when he inaugurated an ultra modern learning systems laboratory of the Faculty of Engineering at the Ho Technical University.

The laboratory would help train the students in electronics, manufacturing, energy renewal, technology, and innovations among other technical and vocational skill programmes.

President Mahama said government would continue to provide facilities that would enable the schools to achieve their goals of producing the manpower needs of industry and make the students entrepreneurial.

He gave the assurance that government would construct a 23-bedroom unit for the staff of the Ho Technical University and plans were advanced for the construction of more hostel facilities to accommodate more students on campus.

Professor E.K Sakyi, the Rector of the Polytechnic, commended President Mahama for fulfilling his promise of converting the polytechnics into technical universities adding that it would spur them on to train more middle level manpower for Ghana in the coming years.

He said apart from that, the Government had, over the years, re-tooled the polytechnics adequately to carry out their mandate which would create a congenial atmosphere for them to perform.

Professor Sakyi said the conversion would subsequently require a new direction and commitment from the management and staff of the polytechnics and pledged to play their roles meaningfully to achieve their desired goals.

He gave the assurance that they would continue to design programmes to fit into the conversion and upgrade their the facilities as high standard ones to serve Ghana and her neighbours.

Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyeman, the Minister of Education, gave the assurance that the ministry would make investments on infrastructure to enable them to function as universities.

She promised to also carry out courses that would help upgrade the lecturers to take up their new task and responsibilities as university lecturers.