Mr K.A. Batse; the jovial, friendly and yet strict disciplinarian

He is jovial, friendly, deferential and approachable – probably the most friendly lecturer of the Ghana Institute of Journalism – and yet very uncompromising in his discipline. That is Mr K.A. Batse, the Vice-Rector of the Ghana Institute of Journalism who only a week ago was sworn into office as a member of the National Media Commission (NMC), following his appointment to same by President John Evans Atta Mills.

Mr Batse replaced Mr Samuel Appiah Ampofo whose appointment was withdrawn by the president. Some of his students have joked that the Public Relations lecturer’s appointment to the NMC is an indication that there is so much indiscipline in the media and the unforgiving disciplinarian is expected to bring his gavel on errant journalists.
Born in Hohoe in the Volta Region close to some 60 years ago, Mr Batse entered GIJ as a lecturer in 1981, taught for just one academic year and left. He however returned in 1989 having obtained his M.A. in Journalism and Communications in 1982. As a research-inclined person, he said “This is a research degree with my thesis written in the field of Organisational Communication.”

No wonder he very quickly became the Head of the Public Relations and Advertising Department at GIJ in 1993 – precisely four years after he re-entered the Institute.

Maybe because of his strict discipline, the PR lecturer is also the Head of Academic Affairs.

Mr Batse, nicknamed “Publics” by some of his students, speaks fondly of a 10-week course he participated in on Programme Management and Evaluation in 1991 on a UNESCO Fellowship at the Institute of Population Studies, University of Exeter, United Kingdom. The course dealt with various aspects of Population/Family Planning Porgramme Management and Evaluation including Information, Education and Communication (IEC) issues. “As part of the course requirement, I prepared a paper on ‘Using Communication More Effectively to Enhance Family Planning Activities in Ghana,’” he stated.

With this background, Mr Batse was key in the designing of the course syllabus and teaching manuals of the UNFPA-assisted Population Communication Project at GIJ. But he did more than that. He also taught the course at the initial stages.

Before coming to teach at GIJ, Mr Batse was the Public Relations Manager of the Ghana Oil Company (GOIL) from August 1985 to September 1988 where he helped management take some critical decisions. He served in various capacities in the Institute of Public Relations (IPR-Ghana).