Set up companies to employ others - Gifty Ampofo advises KTU graduates
The Deputy Minister of Education in charge of Technical, Vocational, Education and Training (TVET), Gifty Twum Ampofo, has advised graduates of the Koforidua Technical University (KTU) to go into joint business ventures.
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She said apart from that, they should also form their own companies to provide jobs for others, saying, that was because the government was ready to assist such ventures if appropriate appraisals were provided.
The deputy TVET minister made those suggestions to the graduates at the 20th congregation of the KTU at Koforidua, the Eastern regional capital, last Saturday, on the theme: "Embracing new technologies and creative thinking to drive positive change", which witnessed the passing out of 2,398 students who successfully met all the requirements for the award of degrees and diplomas.
Out of the number, 231 had First Class, while 1,379 got Second Class (Upper Division), 769 had Second Class (Lower Division) and 21, a Pass.
In the Bachelor of Technology category, five graduates had passes while at the Higher National Diploma (HND) category 16 were awarded passes.
Joint ventures
Mrs Ampofo said as students who had developed acquaintance at the university during their stay on campus they might have known one another in such a way that they could either enter into joint ventures or set up their own companies to generate income.
The graduates
That, she explained, was the reason for acquiring higher education at the technical level.
No cheating
Mrs Ampofo stated that the graduates should not think of being cheated by their partners but rather forge ahead in unity and understand each other.
She emphasised that although partnerships involving a man and his wife may fail, the graduands should not think about that but their efforts would give maximum results for their benefits and others in society.
The Deputy minister, who spoke on behalf of the sector minister, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, said since technical universities occupied a unique position in the educational system for providing hands-on practical and entrepreneurial skills to students to meet the needs of the labour market, the government had given the necessary assistance to such universities.
New programmes
The Vice-Chancellor of the KTU, Professor John Owusu, who took over the leadership of the university less than a month ago, said 17 new degree programmes had been introduced.
Some of the new programmes, he indicated, were Accounting and Finance, Actuarial Science, Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, Biomedical Engineering, Building Technology, Civil Engineering, Computer Science and Electrical/Electronics.
The university, Professor Owusu also noted, had been linked with similar institutions in Germany, Republic of Korea, Canada, Belgium and China to enable it to produce the sort of graduands who would be required wherever they might be.
He said one of the outcomes of such links was the establishment of the Faculty of Health and Allied Sciences, the National Reference Centre for Parasitology, Department of Medicine of Infectious Diseases of which Mcgill University had donated medical equipment worth nearly one million dollars to enable KTU to mount the programme.
Challenges
Professor Owusu said despite the successes chalked up by the university, it had been facing challenges such as lack of staff office space and residential facilities, inadequate library space and insufficient ICT facilities, limited hostels, and poor, inadequate infrastructure.
He pointed out that most of the students were also accommodated in nearby private hostels with huge sanitation challenges.
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