Day: November 19, 2023

More than 1,500 have graduated from various programmes at the Ho Technical University (HTU) at its 24th graduation ceremonies.

There were graduates from the faculties of Applied Sciences and Technology, Arts and Design, the Built and Natural Environment, and the HTU Business School.

There were also students from the Faculty of Engineering, and each received a certificate.

Three students graduated with Master of Technology, 512 with Bachelor of Technology, and 1037 with Higher National Diploma.

Professor Ben Honyenugah, Vice Chancellor of the University, in a report, said the University was graduating its first batch of the four year Bachelor in Hospitality and Tourism Management, which was a niche area.

He commended the resilience to pursue the various courses, and said all had been built and destined to succeed in their various fields of endeavour.

The Vice chancellor mentioned the introduction of new programmes, including BSC Economics and Innovation, BTECH Biomedical Engineering, BTECH Real Estate a
nd Facilities Management, and BTECH Architectural Technology.

He said all new programmes had passed approval stages, and would help provide the needed engineering and management skills to build the nation.

Prof Honyenuga further mentioned investment in academic resources including infrastructure, and said classrooms, ICT labs etc were being provided and improved.

He said MOUs, including with the NAVY and some foreign countries, had begun to bear fruit with new program development, and foreign exchanges for both student and staff.

The University had boosted its national and international reputation with success in various awards and pitch competitions including the coveted national innovation event, YouStart.

The Ho Technical University had also won a national culinary competition.

Prof Honyenuga said the University would, however, required financial clearance to recruit more staff for its expansion, and also appealed for the completion of four age-old GETFund projects, which continued to stall even thou
gh at near completion.

The Vice Chancellor further appealed that the niche hospitality management department required a hotel school with the needed facilities to aid teaching and learning.

Ms. Evelyn Fortitude-Terkpor, a product of the University who had become a successful agro-investor, was guest speaker, and urged graduates to place value in the offerings of the University, and to pursue excellence in all endeavours.

Mr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, Minister for Education, in a speech read on his behalf, commended the University for its strides in excellence, and that its progress aligned with the Government’s efforts to develop the nation’s industrial prospects.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Professor Jophus Anamuah-Mensah, a renowned educationist, says for the universities to be more responsive to Ghana’s developmental needs they must be decolonised and grounded in African realities and experiences.

He said they must be re-engineered to embrace the ‘Sankofarian’ principle to integrate African indigenous knowledge systems and epistemologies in the curriculum and knowledge production.

Professor Anamuah-Mensah was speaking at the 21st Congregation of the Methodist University Ghana in Accra on the topic: Decolonising the Mindset in Ghanaian Universities: Is Sankofa an Option?’. 

A total number of 701 students graduated  out of which 143 are Postgraduate students, 498 Undergraduate students, 40 Diploma students and 20 Certificate students.

For the Bachelor’s degrees, 34 had First Class Honours, 162 Second Class Upper, 229 Second Class Lower, 58 Third Class and 15 had ordinary Pass.

There were a total of 13 awards to 12 deserving graduates for their excellent performance, these are made up of 10
undergraduate and three postgraduate students.

Out of these, five are females (receiving six awards) and seven are males.

‘Universities must recognize the value of indigenous knowledge system, its ontology and epistemology,’ he added.

He said the Universities should recognize that the indigenous knowledge system was unique and rich and designed to be ardent consumers of the products of foreign industries instead of being engineered to produce superior goods and services.

Prof Anamuah-Mensah, who was also a former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Education Winneba, said although Ghanaian Universities, since their set-up had Africanized their academic staff, still continued to develop curricula, and pedagogic structures that were based on borrowed epistemologies that made them look like those in the developed north.

He said in an attempt to become global tended to be institution in outlook, they were foreign to local cultures, populations, and development challenges.

He said being clothed in a deconte
xtualised, colonial mindset, woven through the long history of colonial subjugation, ‘we seem to have developed an attitude of acceptance that devalues our values but celebrates the Western cultural values.’

The Educationist said the people had imbibed Western epistemologies and ignored their own but when there were difficulties, we ran to the wisdom of the old, adding there is an identity crisis.

‘The Akan symbol, Sankofa and its philosophical and epistemological underpinnings offer the best option for creating a decolonized mindset,’ he added.

He said it admonished stakeholders to look to the past to make positive progress in future.

Prof Phillip Ebow Bondzi-Simpson, the Vice-Chancellor, MUG said the University had introduced the Professional Engagement Series for professionals to interact with the students to have a feel of the blend of theory and practice.

He said this was to complement the attachments and internships, which were being mainstreamed into every programme. 

The Vice-Chancellor said the
University was being repositioned as a research-intensive one. 

He advised the graduates to be level-headed at all times and embrace life, knowing that in the face of opportunity, setbacks exist; but in the face of setbacks, success was assured with discipline, hard work, focus, perseverance and the fear of God. 

He said learning must be continuous and lifelong and as they leave,  they should do well to come back for their access, top-up, master and PhD programmes and/or the several relevant short courses on offer.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Ms. Constance Swaniker, the Founder and President of Design and Technology Institute (DTI ), has called for the creation of entrepreneurship and innovation hubs within schools to incubate start-up companies.

She said this would provide budding entrepreneurs access to impact capital to nurture and drive entrepreneurship among graduates to reduce the overreliance of the graduates on the government for jobs.

Ms Swaniker was speaking at fourth graduation of the Institute with 217 learners.

She said, ‘our engineering, applied sciences, and skill-based programmes need competency-based learning.’

The Founder said stakeholders must ensure that if the engineering training demanded that the students rolled up their sleeves and get their hands dirty, so must it be.

She said they must begin to pay attention to the health and safety in the laboratories and workshops, mimicking how professional industrial settings were set up.

‘We do not need more lawyers but engineers, architects, fabricators, industrialists, creat
ive artists,

and real nation builders to drive the country’s industrialisation agenda,’ she added.

These are the real sectors that have the potential to create jobs and promote economic growth.

She said as a country, ‘we continue to be bedevilled with poverty, poor work ethics and time management, a lack of self-motivation, low productivity, and a general lack of honesty and integrity.’

Ms Swaniker said to produce whole-quality graduates (of character) for the nation, issues of integrity, selflessness, maturity, emotional stability, and the ability to work with little or no supervision and in a team were essential considerations in DTI’s approach to the training the youth received.

She said they ensure that their graduates develop 21st-century learning skills often called the four C’s, critical thinking, creative thinking, collaboration and communication.

He said DTI provided equal opportunities and believed that all young people should have a fair chance to succeed in life and be given access to qualit
y education to reach any job, profession, or position

Mrs Julianna Asamoah-Krodua, Coordinator of Student Affairs at DTI, said, ‘our learners have shown outstanding academic excellence, not only in their assessments but also in their everyday commitment to learning.’

She said their dedication was a testament to the quality of education they received and the tireless efforts of the facilitators and supporting staff.

She said DTI remained dedicated to fostering an inclusive and diverse learning environment.

‘We firmly believe that embracing diversity enriches our collective experiences and prepares our learners for the realities of the world beyond our institution’s walls,’ she added.

‘We equip them with essential skills to thrive in the challenging outside terrain, including anger management, stress coping mechanisms, and time management skills,’ she added.

She said DTI was committed to maintaining its position as a center of Technical and Vocational educational excellence in Ghana and across Africa.

Ms
Dzigbordi Kwaku-Dooso, Founder and CEO of DCG Consulting Group, commended the Management team for support in equipping these students with the appropriate skills set for the future.

She called on the graduates to demonstrate all the skills acquired to contribute to the development of the economy the betterment of their families.

‘Everything learnt in the classroom needs to be exhibited at the workplace to make it enjoyable,’ she added.

Source: Ghana News Agency