The Sunyani Technical University has secured GHC1.6 million-grant from the Ghana Skills Development Fund (GSDF), under the Auspices of the CTVET and the World Bank.
According to Professor Kwadwo Adinkrah-Appiah, the Vice Chancellor of the STU, the institution in partnership with the Philinita Limited won the grant and had since signed the contract for the implementation of a project which focuses on advancing training in PoP ceiling technologies.
Addressing the 16th congregation of the university in Sunyani Prof Adinkrah-Appiah inspired the staff of the University to participate fully in Grantsmanship training Workshops that were about to be organized to enhance their capacities to win more grants for the institution.
It was on the theme “technical and professional skills training-solution to high rate of youth unemployment in Ghana”, and a total of 1,863 graduates passed out from the university.
They comprise 1,090, representing 58.5 percent males and 773 representing 41.5 percent females and were awarded Bachelor of Technology (B-Tech), Higher National Diploma (HND) and Diploma Certificates in Engineering, TVET, Applied Science and Technology, Built Environment and Applied Arts, as well as Business and Management Studies disciplines.
Additionally, Prof Adinrkah-Appiah said the University was in partnership with Fanshawe College of Engineering based in London Ontario, Canada, with focus on capacity building towards Electric Vehicle and Industrial Welding Technologies.
The collaboration has won a Canadian Government grant of 500,000 Canadian Dollars to train 20 STU staff (11 Women and nine men) in Canada, commencing in September 2024, he said indicating that the STU was prepared to see to the effective implementation of the project between the two institutions.
Prof Adinrkah-Appiah said the university had also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Mohan College of Engineering for another staff Capacity Building, Joint Research/Projects and Students Mobility.
Under the Students Mobility arrangement, Mohan Students will attend a semester abroad at STU and STU students will also have their turn to visit Mohan in Canada, effective 2024/2025 academic.
He said arrangements were also far advanced for the STU and the State University of New York Polytechnic Institute (SUNY PI), Utica, New York to sign an MoU for Staff Development, Students/Staff Exchange programmes.
Other components of the MoU include a Joint Grant Proposal Writings and Joint Research in the areas of Electric Vehicles, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, 3D Printing, and other related areas, he said, saying several meetings had already gone on between STU and the Management of SUNY PI which would culminate in the signing of an MoU and subsequent implementation of various projects.
This partnership would help STU build more capacity in its Niche Area, Electrical and Electronics Engineering and others, stated.
The University had also signed an Affiliation Agreement with the Ghana Armed Forces Training School in Teshie, Accra that had culminated in the mounting of four programmes including BTech Building Technology, BTech Wood Construction, BTech Electrical Engineering and BTech Mechanical Engineering.
Prof Adinkrah-Appiah explained the four programmes already had 96 students enrolled for the 2023/24 Academic Year, adding the STU had eventually implemented the 20 percent discount on School Fees for all Female Engineering students this Academic Year.
This is in line with the University’s Strategic Plan as the existing Female Engineering Students population stands at only 4 percent and it is envisaged that this policy will improve the enrolment of Female Engineering students in the University, responding to diversity and inclusion in the field of engineering.
He explained the STU continued to fund Staff, especially Faculty, from its IGF, GETFUND, and other sources to build capacity, in line with the University’s Strategic Plan.
The University is currently spending over GH¢1.5 million a year from its IGF, Government of Ghana and GETFund sources to sponsor more than 50 staff to pursue PhD degrees in both local and foreign Universities.
“We are happy to announce that most of the staff that we sponsored have successfully completed their PhD programmes and have returned to the University to serve”, he stated, adding the prospects were that by the end of the current Strategic Plan period, 2025, the University would have trained over 100 PhD holders to manage teaching and learning in the Lecture Halls.
Prof Adinkrah-Appiah therefore appealed to industry, corporate organizations and the institution’s Alumni to cheerfully donate to the University’s Endowment Fund to facilitate further staff training and infrastructure development.
He also appealed for a financial clearance from the GETFund to complete Phase II of the Science Park Project (Ground Floor Level), which is the only GETFund Project in the University.
That project, he added, commenced in 2007 but only has the basement floor completed, to provide more classrooms and office spaces for students and staff.
Prof Adinrkah-Appiah said the university also required financial clearance to construct a new 1000-bed capacity hostel to accommodate students, worrying that out of the over 7000 student population, the university halls of residence had a capacity of only 1000.
“We also need an asphalt-overlay on the 4.5km campus roads”, the Vice Chancellor added.
GNA
DEN/AD
April 20, 2024
Caption: Picture shows Prof Adinkrah-Appiah
