Scholarship Secretariat signs MoU with Turkish university
The Scholarship Secretariat has signed a Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) with Koc University in Turkey to provide scholarship to Ghanaian students to study in the university.
The Registrar of the Secretariat, Mr Kingsley Agyemang, signed for his outfit while the President and Rector of Koc University, Professor Dr Umran S. Inan, signed on behalf of the university.
The agreement involved scholarship packages, ranging between 50 to 100 per cent. It will be fully funded by the awarding institution with the secretariat as the coordinating agency.
The programme will cover Master’s and PhD courses.
The MoU follows similar agreements with other institutions in the United Kingdom (UK), United States of America (USA), South Korea and Canada, among others.
Koç University is a private non-profit comprehensive research institution that offers a world class educational experience in Istanbul, Turkey.
It is the highest-ranking university in Turkey based on Times Higher Education rankings for 2018.
It is also ranked the 8th best university in Europe.
Assurance
Mr Agyemang assured staff of Koc University that, Ghanaian students had proven record of excellence in institutions they attended around the world, adding, “For a state like a Ghana to sponsor a student, it means that student is of high quality.”
He said the secretariat was established to help develop human capital for the country and that it had so far discharged its mandate creditably.
Mr Agyemang also explained that, as part of efforts to improve the education sector in the country, the government had converted Polytechnics into technical universities and diploma awarding colleges of education into degree awarding status.
He said the National Accreditation Board has also directed all university lecturers to at least, attain PHD status.
“What this means is that we would have to ensure lecturers acquire PHDs to facilitate effective teaching and learning in the universities.
Competence
For his part, Dr Inan said following the sterling performance of Ghanaians in many spheres of life in the world, he had no doubt about the competences of Ghanaian students.
The Ghanaians ambassador to Turkey, Salma Frances Mancell-Egala, who witness the ceremony, expressed delight that Ghana was the first country in Africa to sign such an MOU with the best university in Turkey.