The Indian High Commissioner to Ghana, His Excellency Sugandh Rajaram on Thursday, 15th October, 2020, paid a courtesy call on the Management of the University of Education, Winneba (UEW) at the Office of the Vice-Chancellor in Winneba.

His Excellency, Sugandh Rajaram was at the University to introduce himself to the Management as the new High Commissioner to Ghana and to explore educational opportunities for cooperation, as well as to strengthen and widen partnership with India.

“I thought this was an opportune time to at least introduce myself to you and then see if there are opportunities for cooperation because your institution is a very eminent national institution for teacher education which is a very important area for nation-building. This, we prioritise in India and so, there are several areas we could explore as areas of cooperation. I am looking forward to strengthening our partnership and widening interactions in the future,” the Indian High Commissioner to Ghana said.

He looked forward to a brighter future of university-university cooperation between UEW and Indian universities where there could be long term Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) focused on academic exchanges, joint studies, and collaborative research that will inure to the mutual benefit of both countries. He indicated that though the process could take some time, he was determined to facilitate it.

Vice-Chancellor, Rev. Fr. Prof. Anthony Afful-Broni expressed his delight for the visit and paid glowing tribute to the Indian Government towards the nation-building processes of Ghana. He indicated that the High Commissioner had come to the right place, pointing out that UEW is the fastest growing and most populated University among the very top-ranked in the country offering cutting-edge education programmes.

He expressed interest in having some of the staff of UEW who may want to further their studies particularly in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) train in India because India has a worldwide reputation for advancement in ICT. He was upbeat about receiving national from
India to be trained as teachers as well as share knowledge in education research with universities in India.

“We will be interested in having some of our senior members who have interest in further studies, particularly in ICT to train in India. In the area of ICT, I know India is very very big nowadays. Even while we were going to school in the US, most of the time you will pick the phone and call for technical support and you thought you’re talking to somebody in Califonia only to realise that you’re talking to an Indian at home in India and so there is a lot that we can learn from each other”, Prof. Afful-Broni intimated.

The Ag. Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Andy Ofori-Birikorang, in reinforcing ICT as a key area for cooperation explained that the onset of COVID-19, had caused teachings and many other activities to be moved online and these are highly driven by technology. He said that there would, therefore, be the need for a lot of cooperation with India in the ICT space since India is undoubtedly a hub for technology now.

“This is because with COVID coming, we have moved online, using the Learning Management System. We are training all personnel and all students to also transition online. And therefore, if there is any support that we might need aside others, that should be an area that as an institution we would like to prioritise and if you can initiate moves to help support us to train our staff and students and provide some kind of logistical support, I think that will be an area we will very much welcome,” he implored the Indian High Commissioner.