The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) has inaugurated a Centre-of-Excellence “established to enhance the study of French.

It has a language laboratory, francophone library and an information desk where students could access information on external studies.

Named “Maison Francaise”, it is a collaborative work between the French Embassy and the University’s Department of Modern Languages.

Professor William Otoo Ellis, the Vice-Chancellor of KNUST, said the facility would promote quality and improve the performance of students studying French.

Additionally, the centre would run short courses for doctors, lawyers, researchers, tourists, businessmen and other technocrats.

He spoke of plans to establish a French Village and said when it becomes fully operational, the place would promote all forms of research and academic work in French.

It would tremendously aid students of the university to access information from francophone centres of higher learning.

Prof. Ellis thanked the French Embassy for facilitating the opening of the centre and said there is no doubt that it would be to their mutual benefit.

Mr. Arnaud Dornon, an official of the French Embassy, said the officials are determined to work closely with the institutions of higher learning to promote the French language.

He expressed the hope that the users of the facility would find it more beneficial since it has been equipped with the requisite logistics for research and the study of French.**