Government has reiterated its commitment to providing incentive packages for students in the technical and vocational institutions so as to make such institutions attractive to parents and their wards.

According to Madam Ursula Owusu, the Sector Minister for Communications, the NPP government is determined to ensure that technical universities in the country focus on their core mandate of equipping their students with the relevant skills needed.

The Minister was speaking on behalf of President Nana Addo Adankwa Akufo-Addo, at the 16th Congregation of the Accra Technical University [ATU], formerly the Accra Polytechnic in Accra on Saturday.

According to her, government has put in place very important initiatives to ensure that the decision to focus on the Technical Vocational Educational and Training [TVET] succeeds and that for the One District One Factory flagship program to excel, access to technical and vocational institutions will be reinforced and increased by retooling and exploring of new avenues for existing vocational institutions.

She mentioned that a key measure to ensure efficiency in the TVET sector is the decision by government to bring all technical and vocational institutions under the Education Ministry.

‘’By this decision, government is bringing the sixteen ministries which were offering some form of skills development under one umbrella to enable the Ministry of Education look at standardization, resource mobilization, certification and regulation in order to ensure that technical and vocational education become the number one choice of the youth,’’ she stated.

She noted, a bill is being worked on to be submitted to cabinet in order to get the approval of the TVET strategy of the country which will ensure that only managers with technical university background are put in charge of technical education.

“We are cognizant of the challenges bedevilling the educational sector and government is committed to dealing with those challenges. This is the reason we went to great lengths to clear the energy debts owed by most of our tertiary educational institutions including the Accra Technical University,’’ she noted.

Madam Ursula Owusu encouraged the graduands to take advantage of the newly launched national entrepreneurship and innovation plan aimed at helping upcoming entrepreneurs with startups to have access to mentoring and business development services.



Some of the excited graduates

On his part, Professor Ralph Kinston Asabere, the Chairman of the University Governing Council indicated that the elevation of Polytechnics to Technical Universities is very prudent and if well accomplished, would make an enormous meaningful contribution not only to the technical educational system, but the economy of Ghana at large.

Professor Asabere called on stakeholders in the educational sector including the government to ensure that all technical universities are well resourced with infrastructure, logistics and appropriate personnel.

As the Chairman of the newly constituted ATU Governing Council, Professor Asabere has indicated his commitment to lead the new council to complete the unfinished businesses of the previous administration whilst channeling their efforts into putting the university on an enviable height.

We shall seek to inject some operational efficiency into issues of students’ management through the modernization of our classrooms and other academic facilities by ensuring that the needed facilities are available for both students and staff use.

Apart from the Council for Technical and Vocational Education and Training [COTVET] assisted projects, the university he pointed out shall look elsewhere for funds in order to build other structures for the use of staff and students respectively.

The Acting Interim Vice Chancellor of the ATU, Prof. Edmund Ameku disclosed that in other to free the school’s current physical space and make life easier for staff and students, they are developing a new 160 acres campus at Mempemehuasem, near Samsam, close to Nsawam.

He further disclosed that ATU School of Engineering would be the first to relocate to the new campus in due course and that four new laboratories and workshops are currently under construction which is being funded by the Government of Ghana through the COTVET to the tune of Nineteen Million Eight Hundred and Thirty Six, Four Hundred and Twenty Seven Cedis.

The Government through COTVET Prof. Ameku explained is also resourcing the four laboratories and workshops with tools, equipment, machines, instruments and other devices to train the students. He advised the graduands to continue to learn to improve and succeed in today and future world of work.

“Let not today’s ceremony signal a full stop, but rather a comma in your continuous quest for education and excellence,’’ he said.

The 16th congregation of the school saw the conferment of various certificates to the 2015/16 and 2016/17 batches respectively. The graduation was delayed due to the absence of a governing council to administer the activities of the school.

Mr Toku Mandela was adjudged the overall best graduating student, 2017 whilst Ms Afemeku Confidence Mawufemor was adjudged the overall best student for 2016 with receiving cash prizes, citations and medallion.