Technology student population of Ghana Tech University grows to 8,000
Student population of Ghana Technology University has climbed to nearly 8,000 in 2017 from less than a cohort of 100 when the College was established some decade ago, College President Professor Osei Kofi Darkwa said.
Professor Darkwa attributed the growing population to innovative and industry relevant courses introduced by school authorities in recent times as well as effective collaborations and partnerships with local and international institutions to better deliver quality results.
He was speaking at the College’s 16th congregation ceremony in Accra where about 170 students graduated with various degrees from Anhalt University, CASS in Europe and Coventry University.
The graduates pursued Masters in Business Administration and Master of Science in Oil and Gas Management, Engineering Project Management, Management Information Systems, Engineering and Management, Supply Chain Management, Global Finance, International Trade and Telecommunications Engineering.
Speaking on the theme: “The impact of university graduate output in the work place; a challenge to the new graduate,” Professor Darkwa said “we always take pride in being a place where theory combines with practice to give our students a proper understanding of the world around us”.
He described graduates from the College as critical thinkers and innovators with entrepreneurial capacity to develop, organise and manage their own business ventures, providing employment opportunities and building the nation.
A graduate from the University College, Mutaru Mumuni Muqthar, a security expert, was able to stop a 21-year-old from northern Ghana last year from joining the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) extremist group.
Muqthar, who is now the Executive Director of the West Africa Centre for Counter-Extremism (WACCE), founded the organisation after school.
Dr Ellen Hagan, Chief Executive Officer of LAINE Services Limited, who was the guest speaker at the graduation said: “there is crisis in the world of work. There are not enough jobs for all the people graduating from school.”
She advised graduates to look into their entrepreneurial skills and ability to venture into businesses to create jobs for themselves and others as the first step to solving the crises of work.
She said: “Ghana is seeing days where we are gradually changing our mind-set that we do not all need to look for jobs. Some of us must create jobs for others.”
“Look around you, what problems need solving,” she quizzed: “Look within you – what idea has been impressed in your heart?”
“Entrepreneurship is the obvious answer to this crisis in the world of work. Let’s embrace it, not when we are at retirement age, but start businesses even while in school as some have done”.
Source: GNA