GCTU targets STEM, transnational education to scale-up - Prof. Afoakwa
The Ghana Communication Technology University (GCTU) has renewed its commitment to the advancement of science, technology, engineering and mathematics education in the country, the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Emmanuel Ohene Afoakwa, has assured.
He said aside from Information and Communication Technology (ICT), the institution had submitted about 20 new STEM-based programmes at the Bachelors, Masters and Doctoral levels to the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) for accreditation.
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Speaking at the 29th congregation of the university in Accra last Saturday, where 1308 students graduated, Prof. Afoakwa said the accreditation, when granted, would help GCTU to develop and design undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, structures and policies that conformed to national and international standards.
“Our focus is on the nurturing of personal values and ethics that will become the standards of our communities, country and the world at large so it is our hope that GTEC would provide us with the requisite accreditations to all these programmes to enable us to advertise and run them at the 2022/2023 academic year,” he said.
Transnational
The fully-fledged public university, according to the Vice-Chancellor, was also committed to championing transnational tertiary education in the country.
This year, he said, the university would partner with some distinguished international universities such as Jiangsu University in Zhengzhou, China, University of Brest in France and the Ghent University in Belgium to increase the training of terminal degree level for the university’s faculty.
As a pioneer in the delivery of Transnational Education (TNE) in West Africa, he said, GCTU would continue to bear the torch as one of the most successful TNE providers in Africa to ensure that Ghanaians got access to world-class tertiary education without leaving the shores of the country.
“This year, as part of our rebranding exercise the university will explore options of utilising research results, engaging in faculty/students visits and exchange, staff development, curriculum development and other programmes beneficial to our university and our partners,” he said.
He explained that over the years, GCTU had established, built and maintained successful academic partnerships with several universities abroad, including the Coventry University, UK, Alborg University, Denmark, Anhalt University, Germany, CASS Europe, France and Ramaiah University of Applied Sciences, India.
Prof. Afoakwa said the university would continue to explore more avenues for national and international partnerships to create more avenues for staff and student training and exchange programmes.
Partnerships
The university, he said, was a beneficiary of scholarships from the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, the Ghana Scholarships Secretariat and the GETFUND, which supported both staff and students.
“As our partnerships continue to grow stronger every day, we shall ensure the provision of quality education for our students and enhanced professional development for our staff,” he said.
To the graduating students, Prof. Afoakwa encouraged them to always remember the meaning of the symbol in the university’s crest.
“The Adinkra symbol ‘Neaonnim no sua a, ohu’ (Knowledge comes from learning) is a Ghanaian Cultural Symbol that explains the need for constant knowledge acquisition, an essential ingredient of education,” he said.
