China to partner African universities to train professionals
Twenty Chinese universities are to partner universities in Africa for exchange programmes and provide scholarships to help in the training of professionals.
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In Ghana, the University of Ghana, Legon has been selected by the Chinese Embassy to benefit from the programme to support students who pursue courses in the social sciences.
Apart from that, between 300 and 400 training opportunities are available for Ghanaian professionals in different fields in China.
The Chinese Ambassador to Ghana, Sun Baohong, announced this when she led a seven-member delegation to visit the Kumasi Polytechnic as part of her visit to state-owned universities and polytechnics in Ghana, to acquaint herself with the operations of tertiary institutions in the country.
This was after a four-member delegation from the polytechnic had earlier visited the ambassador in her office in Accra.
She said the two countries have had good relations which should be used in support of quality education, and pledged the embassy’s support for the development of the polytechnic.
Rector of K-Poly
The Rector of the Kumasi Polytechnic, Prof. N.N.N. Nsowah-Nuamah, who welcomed the ambassador and her entourage, said the institution has since 2010 engaged in several interactions with China resulting in the signing of a number of memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Chinese academic institutions and business partners.
He mentioned some of the institutions as the Business College of Shanxi University, Jiangsu University, Yangtze University, Wuhan University of Technology, Lanzhou Jiaotong University, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Ningbo University, North East Normal University and Shenyang Medical College.
Relationship with China
He said the polytechnic, in collaboration with Song Tech Company Limited, a Chinese company, has built a plant to assemble computers, mobile phones and other electronic gadgets. Again, he said a consortium of a Ghanaian promoter, a South African operator and a Chinese developer was in place for the construction of a hospitality complex for the polytechnic.
He implored the ambassador to facilitate the setting up of a Confucius centre with equipment at the polytechnic, for the teaching of Chinese language and culture, and also address issues related to the acquisition of visa by some students of the polytechnic who need to travel to China for academic programmes.