Ensure consistency in technical universities development— Prof. Yankah
The Minister of State in-charge of Tertiary Education, Professor Kwesi Yankah, has admonished technical universities to ensure consistency in cultivating the technical university paradigm as globally accepted and not seek a populist escape route that only yields temporary results.
“I urge you to develop assessment procedures, a culture of academic progression and as well institute academic programmes and disciplines that are consistent with traditions of technical universities,” he stated.
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Prof. Yankah, who was speaking during the investiture of the foundation Vice-Chancellor of the Sunyani Technical University (STU), Professor Kwadwo Adinkrah-Appiah, in Sunyani last Saturday, said there was no need for technical universities to follow the “madding” crowd towards the monotony of uniformity but rather position themselves towards the progressive path of differentiation and diversification.
“Don’t be lured into the trap of uniformity; and should you ever be tempted, submit only to the temptation of innovative curriculum and programming,” he said.
Hundreds of people turned out to witness the investiture of Prof. Adinkrah-Appiah, who has been serving as an interim Vice-Chancellor since the then Sunyani Polytechnic was turned into a technical university.
Prof. Yankah tasked Prof. Adinkrah-Appiah to pioneer the development of a tried and tested template in nurturing and harnessing expertise in engineering resources within the university’s immediate environment and assured him that the government was ready and prepared to support such initiatives to ensure their fullest realisation.
Short certificate courses
Prof. Adinkrah-Appiah said the development of the Bono, Bono East and Ahafo regions would feature mostly in the university’s new strategic plan explaining that community service would be rendered through community-based applied research and technology transfer.
In addition, he stated that the university would introduce short certificate courses for local artisans, farmers and small-scale business operators while agricultural potentials within the three regions would be enriched through collaborative research and establishment of technology villages at Duayaw Nkwanta in the Ahafo Region and Amasu in the Bono Region for agro-processing and post-harvest technology activities.
Commitment to TVET
The Bono Regional Minister, Mrs Evelyn Ama Kumi-Richardson, said the government was committed to the transformation of the technical and vocational education and had thus secured a $130 million facility from China for the upgrade of five technical universities, including STU, as well as 10 technical institutes across the country.
She explained that beneficiary institutions would see an upgrade in the construction of training workshops for mechanical engineering, automobile engineering, civil engineering and welding engineering, among others.
Mrs Kumi-Richardson encouraged Prof. Adinkrah-Appiah to live up to the task of making the Sunyani Technical University, one of the best universities of choice, if not the overall best.
