Essikado To Get Railway University

The Ministry of Railway Development and University of Mines and Technology (UMaT) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the establishment of a Railway University at Essikado in the Sekondi-Takoradi metropolis of the Western Region.

To this end, a ceremony was held at the Railway Training School in Essikado to sign the agreement for the commencement of technical and educational training in various disciplines in the railway sector.

Beginning in the 2018/2019 academic year, the university would run railway programmes such BSc Mechanical Engineering, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Environmental and Safety Engineering, Computer Science and Engineering, as well as Geomatic Engineering.

The rest include MSc Engineering Management, Business and Technology Management, Certificate in Innovative Service Management, Entrepreneurship and SME Finance, Project Management, Strategic Human Resource Management and Certificate in Small-scale Mining and Quarry Administration.

Other programmes would include Certificate in Railway Engineering (Plant and Maintenance option), Certificate in Railway Engineering (Welding and Fabrication option) and certificate in Railway Engineering (Electrical option).

Currently, renovation and construction of lecture rooms, technical laboratories and other infrastructure are ongoing.

The Minister for Railway Development, Joe Ghartey, indicated that it was imperative to build the requisite manpower for the rejuvenated railway sector.

“At the investiture of the Chancellor of the University of Mines and Technology, former President John Agyekum Kuffour, on January 12, 2018, President Nana Akufo-Addo announced, among other things, that there would be collaboration between the university and railway sector.

“It's my hope that this step we have taken will eventually lead to the establishment of a fully-fledged university for railway development and infrastructure development,” he indicated.

He stressed the need to make the railway sector an excellent one not only in Ghana or West Africa but Africa in general.

The Vice Chancellor of UMaT, Prof Jerry Samuel Yaw Kuma, was happy with government's preparedness to institute an academic body to train young Ghanaians for the railway sector.

Prof Kuma said the establishment of the university would build the needed manpower locally so that the sector might not hire experts from abroad.

“So if we train the local people properly, what we are doing is that jobs will stay in this country. We won't bring people from outside to come and do certain things for us. We will employ our own,” Prof Kumah added.

From Emmanuel Opoku, Essikado