Work starts on new secretariat for African universities
Contruction work on a new secretariat for the Association of African Universities (AAU) in Accra has started.
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The multi-purpose office, which is being supported with a seed fund and a yearly pledge of GH¢2 million from the government, through the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFUND), is expected to be completed by December 2016.
The facility
The facility, when completed, would comprise a Secretary-General's office, seven directorates, a library and resource centre , and a 50-seater conference room.
Others are small meeting rooms, three offices for visiting scholars, a document production room, general facilities and a well-planned landscaped area.
Special features of the facility would include access for people with disabilities and solar fittings for energy efficiency.
Tribute
Speaking at the ceremony in Accra yesterday, the Secretary-General of the AAU, Professor Etienne Ehouan Ehile, said the seat of the secretariat could not have been at a more appropriate location than at the University of Ghana to serve as a tribute to the tenacity of the late Professor Alex Kwapong, the first African Vice Chancellor of the university.
Additionally, he said, the construction of the secretariat was a giant step to resolve the age-long spatial challenge of the association.
He said when completed, the office would also put the AAU on a pedestal befitting its status as the apex of higher education in Africa.
He, therefore, urged all stakeholders to join in the effort of putting the facility in place by making some contributions to its development
Show support
The Minister of Education, Professor Naana Jane Opoku Agyemang, said the government was certain that the secretariat, when completed, would provide more working space for new programmes and additional staff, and facilitate the organisation of forums on higher education.
She said it would enable the AAU to host many visiting scholars ,facilitate access to indigenous research through the library and resource centre, and deepen research which was key to finding solutions to national and continental needs.
She, therefore, urged the contractors to deliver quality work on the project and thanked the government on the generous offer to the AAU.
Professor Agyemang also called on all government organisations and institutions to support the development and the implementation of new AAU programmes which were aimed at promoting higher education and development on the continent.
For his part, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast and an AAU Board Member, Professor Domwini Dabre Kuupole, urged all members of the association to provide support for the construction of the secretariat.