Dr Wilfred Kwabena Anim-Odame, Council Chairman, Accra Technical University, has advised graduands of the University to uphold the virtues of integrity and honesty to succeed in the field of work.

“I urge you to create a niche for yourself and endeavour to make yourself an exceptional graduate,” with honesty and integrity.

Dr Anim-Odame gave the advice on Friday at the 22nd Congregation of the University.

The University graduated a total of 4,282 students, consisting of 1,482 Bachelor of Technology graduands, 2,496 Higher National Diploma graduands, 219 Diploma graduands and 85 Diploma and certificates for the Ghana Armed Forces.

The Council Chairman said the University would continue to provide opportunities for innovation and hands-on training to better position itself to prescribe solutions to the challenges of the country.

“The Council is committed to promoting excellence in teaching and learning at ATU and guiding management to ensure that its members of staff are motivated through promotion, well-being activities, and welfare packages,” he said.

He said the University had undertaken a number of projects like the construction of a five-story auditorium complex with a basement, a University hospital, rehabilitation of lecture halls, and others to support teaching and learning.

Dr Anim-Odame stressed that the Council was committed to supporting management in seeking private sector partnerships to develop hostel facilities for students on and off-campus.

Professor Samuel Nii Odai, Vice-Chancellor, ATU, said the University Governing Council in 2022 had approved and developed 24 policies to support governance and quality systems.

He said a new framework for master’s programmes had been developed, and that the University was working with the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission to facilitate the accreditation processes that would guide its implementation.

The Vice-Chancellor said the University was collaborating with a number of local and international institutions on mutually beneficial projects.

“We won a grant of £ 120,000 to run short programmes in social enterprises and to establish an Institute of Social Enterprises in ATU under a British Council partnership with the University of Huddersfield and the University of Bolton,” he said.

The University also won a NUFFIC grant of € 65,000 in 2021 in partnership with the Maastricht School of Management, Netherlands, to develop staff competencies and design a commercial agribusiness course targeted at female entrepreneurs.

Prof Odai said the Faculty of Applied Sciences in June, 2022, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ghana Infectious Disease Centre for training the students in the faculty.

The University also signed an MOU with the Management Development and Productivity Institute on December 15, 2022, to collaborate in consultancy and training staff, students, and interested members of the public.

On scholarship schemes, he said the Governing Council approved the ATU Students Financial Support Scheme to provide scholarships for some students, and a budget of GHc 400,000 had been allocated for the 2022/2023 academic year.

He advised the graduands to be focused because the world of work required competence and skills.

Dr Yayrah Dzakadzie, Director in Charge of Tertiary, Ministry of Education, commended the University for the strides made in technical and vocational education, saying, ” ATU will show us innovation and help fix the challenges in the country”.

He said the government had introduced the ” no guarantor policy” for students to access loans and progress on their career paths, and was committed to training students to be job creators, not job seekers.

Mr Davies Narh Koboe, Founder, Cotton Weblink Portfolio Limited, commended the government for enhancing technical and vocational education and training from the basic level through the establishment of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.

He called on the authorities to address the gap between industry and academia to meet the needs of society.

Some graduands from the Bachelor of Technology were presented with awards for excelling in their fields of discipline.

Addison Fiawogbe emerged as the best-graduating student in the Faculty of Engineering; Victor Kumi Larbi won the best-graduating student in the Faculty of Built Environment; and Christian Amoako won the best-graduating student in the Faculty of Applied Sciences.

The rest are Brenda Nana Assor Danquah, the best graduating student in the Faculty of Applied Arts, and Safo Kwasi, the best graduating student in the Faculty of Business.