GTUC, Coventry University to introduce

Dr Osei K. Darkwa, President of the GTUC

The Ghana Telecom University College (GTUC) will be introducing 14 new joint post-graduate programmes with the Coventry University, in the United Kingdom (UK), in January next year.

These programmes include MBA Information Technology, MBA Logistics, MBA Finance, MBA Oil and Gas Management, MSc Forensic Computing, MSc Networking Computing, MSc Software Development, and Msc Microelectronics and Wireless Systems.

The President of the GTUC, Dr Osei K. Darkwa, announced this at the first congregation ceremony of the school in Accra, over the weekend, where 172 students were graduated in undergraduate and post-graduate programmes.

He explained that since this was a collaborative effort between the GTUC and the Coventry University, students pursuing any of these programmes would be awarded with a Coventry University degree.

Dr. Darkwa added, 'Over the years, we have built academic partnerships with a number of institutions of higher learning in Ghana, and around the world. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the USA, the Aalborg University in Denmark, the University of Applied Sciences at Wildau in Germany, the University of Hertfordshire and Coventry University, both in the UK, the Korean Advanced Institute for Science and Technology (KAIST) in South Korea, and the University of Benin, are some of our collaboration partners.'

The university, which is affiliated to the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), is collaborating with the above institutions in a number of core areas such as academic and research cooperation, capacity building, information technology development, faculty and student exchange, study abroad, service learning, exchange of experiences, information and best practices, he explained.

According to the President, 'consistent with global trends in higher education, we are expanding the use of technology to create a 'Virtual GTUC' network of faculty, students, alumni and friends, to encourage lifelong relationships among the growing GTUC community.

'Together with the new GTUC Council, we intend building on the strategic vision and mission of the university, the vision of being a global knowledge enterprise comparable to the leading universities of the world.

'We are confident that together, we will steer this institution in the direction it must go, the direction of building a specialised autonomous university, focusing on the application of ICT to advance socio-economic development in Ghana and the West African sub-region; the direction of linking learners everywhere through ICT; the direction of pioneering new educational models and other forms of virtual learning systems.'

To the graduands, Dr. Darkwa said 'The GTUC is proud of your accomplishment. For some us, this is a dream come true. We never thought we will see this day and date when we started this university from ground zero.'

He thanked the pioneering students, their parents and guardians for the faith and confidence they had in their ability to provide their wards with the knowledge and skills that would make them competitive on the job market.

Dr. Darkwa encouraged the new graduands to climb many more hills by furthering their education, to enable them graduate with higher educational credentials.

'I encourage you to dream big. They say the sky is the limit. I will say, go beyond the sky. Challenge yourself to pursue the impossible, and you will go further than you could ever image,' he intoned.

In a speech read for the Minister of Education, Mr. Alex Tettey-Enyo, he advised the graduands to endeavour to justify the confidence their parents and the university reposed in them, and to put their acquired knowledge to the service of the country.

He encouraged them to be entrepreneurial, and to start something on their own, and not to focus solely on white collar jobs which may not be available in the short term.