Accra, March 31, GNA - Ghana Telecom University College (GTUC) and Zhong Xing Telecommunication (ZTE) University, on Tuesday signed a strategic Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in the areas of resource sharing and training.

According to the agreement, the two sides will implement a long-term cooperation and offer resource sharing to each other in the training sector to enhance professional development and learning skills. As part of the deal, ZTE will help establish a training centre with a practice laboratory to help enhance capacity building and professional development of students and lecturers.

Dr Osei Darkwa, President, GTUC and Ms Judy He, Managing Director of ZTE Ghana Limited signed the agreement on behalf of their respective institutions.

The deal will also lead to the enhancement of the professional skills of GTUC and ZTE staff through training, staff interactions and exchange of experiences and information and the joint initiation and implementation of technical training programmes.

Mr Haruna Iddrisu, Minister for Communication, said it was government's determination to transform the college to a full fledged university to offer Information and Communication Technology (ICT) training to the youth to help accelerate the country's economic development.

In this direction, government is in negotiation with Vodafone Ghana to ensure that the University College runs as an autonomous institution. Mr Iddrisu said the outcome of the negotiations might lead to some job losses but government was appealing to management of Vodafone to ensure that decisions taken reflect the collective bargaining agreement of the workers and that it was fair and equitable.

He said the university was key to ICT development and education, especially in providing open access to many qualified Ghanaians, who currently did not have access to the country's training institutions. Dr Darkwa, President of GTUC emphasized the need for application of technology in raising effectiveness and quality of education and to prepare the people to participate in the global economy. He said to achieve this, GTUC was moving in the direction of open and long distances learning to harness and to connect learners with their teachers to enable them acquire the information and the knowledge they needed.

Dr Darkwa said through video-conferences, the two institutions would be able to exchange ideas and best practices in the field of ICT and telecommunication engineering.

He said the two institutions would soon launch a distance learning solution to meet the educational needs of Ghanaians and also to position the university in enhancing its training capabilities.

The educational platform resulting from the collaboration would enable them reach out to students outside the capital city. Mr Yu Wenzhe noted that information technology was playing an important role to the economic and social development of the country and lauded the government of Ghana's great effort to develop its information technology by building its own national telecommunication network. He said training of indigenous personnel in ICT was important to accelerate economic development and expressed the hope that the agreement would be a win-win co-operation between Ghana and China. Mr Yu pledged his country's full support for the economy of Ghana and said despite the economic downturn, China would fulfil all its pledges and bilateral commitment to Ghana.

Ms Judy He, Managing Director of ZTE, said the collaboration between the two institutions would help accelerate the growth of ICT in Ghana. ZTE is one of the leading telecommunications companies in China and had provided products and services to over 140 countries and regions, and established working relations with over 500 operators.