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21.01.2009 Education

AIT commences Open University programme

21.01.2009 LISTEN
By The Statesman

The Accra Institute of Technology - The University of the Future - has been accredited by the National Accreditation Board to commence online Open University degree programmes in Ghana.

AIT will run the programmes in collaboration with the Open University of Malaysia and the Banasthali University of India.

Under the partnership arrangement reached with its partners, AIT will be offering undergraduate - bachelor's degree programmes in Computer Science, Information Technology, Business Administration, Education and Management.

The postgraduate programme, which will be offered under the auspices of the newly established Professor Francis Allotey Graduate School of AIT, include Master and PhD degree programmes in Engineering, Computer Science, Business Administration, Science and Education.

 These programmes will be delivered online to students in Ghana and other West African countries with the partner universities awarding the degrees.

A statement issued by the President of the School, Professor Clement Dzidonu, indicated that AIT"s decision to offer postgraduate degree programmes in addition to the bachelor's degree was aimed at contributing to address the current crisis of shortage of lecturers with the requisite postgraduate degrees within the public and private university system.

Professor Dzidonu in his statement explained that less than 30% of applicants get admission into the nation"s public universities while private universities in total do not have the capacity to absorb 5% of the numerous qualified applicants that compete for places.

It is in view of this, he noted, that AIT had decided to collaborate with its international partner universities to broaden access to quality and affordable university education

"In the emerging knowledge age, everyone deserves to go to university, and Open University is the way to go in the future if we are to ensure that the vast majority of qualified applicants do get the chance to go to university,' he noted.

According to the President, Open Universities provide access to university education, regardless of time and place, adding that the opportunity for "work-and-earn while learning' is one of the key contributing factors to the increasing number of students enrolling in Open Universities world-wide.

In the statement, the President of the Open University of Malaysia, Professor Anuwar Ali, pointed out that the partnership between AIT and OUM was the first of its kind that OUM had entered into in Africa which he said, would enable AIT deliver its programmes in Ghana and other West African countries.

"This partnership will no doubt contribute to one of AIT's key goals - to position Ghana as a higher-education hub for the West Africa sub-region', he noted.

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