Science, technology crucial to development - Ex-Prez Kufour
Former President John Agyekum Kufuor has underscored the relevance of research, science and technology in a nation’s socio-economic development, stressing that the subjects play crucial roles in this competitive world.
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At the 6th graduation ceremony of the Accra Institute of Technology (AIT) at Cantonments in Accra, he said: “I can see that a time is coming in the not-too-distant future when the might of a nation is not going to be measured by the size of its armaments, armed forces or defence budgets, but rather by the size of its research and development efforts.”
Total number of graduates
A total of 194 students graduated from the school, with 13 graduating with doctorate degrees, 88 with master’s and 93 with bachelor’s degrees.
He lauded the authorities of the institution for establishing a school principally dedicated to research and development, giving a pride of place to information and communication technology (ICT).
Former President Kufuor congratulated the graduates on their hard work and also lauded their parents and guardians for toiling to educate their wards. He added that the best investment a parent could bequeath to a child was a sound education.
He also spoke about the tremendous contributions being made by the nation’s private universities to tertiary education, noting that they were fulfilling a very essential need in accommodating the increasing student population.
Collaborative relations
The Chairman of the AIT Board of Trustees, Prof. Francis K. Allotey, said the school had maintained collaborative relations with several top-class universities across the world, such as the world-class Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) of the USA, which are committed to providing best learning, teaching and research resources for the students.
Delivering his address, the President of AIT, Prof. Clement K. Dzidonu, said the doctorate students of AIT were making major strides in research and currently collaborating with a number of international and local partners, including the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Ghana Institute of Engineers and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), to conduct research in Engineering, Information Technology and Educational Business Administration.
He also said the AIT intended to set up the first Graduate Entrepreneur Institute in the country, which would recruit, mentor and train graduates from any of the nation’s universities that wanted to set up their companies.
