The College of Art and Built Environment (CABE) at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi (KNUST), has welcomed a delegation from the Ghana Publishers Association (GPA) as the two institutions seek to deepen collaboration between academia and the publishing industry.
The visit followed an earlier engagement between the College and the Association, during which they discussed curriculum development, industry-academia collaboration and opportunities to give students greater exposure to professional practice.
The delegation was led by GPA President Edward Yaw Udzu, and included Vice President Harriet Adelaide Tagoe, the Executive Secretary and members of the Association’s Council.
The visit also formed part of activities marking the GPA’s 50th anniversary. The Association identified Kumasi as an important location for the celebration because of the city’s longstanding links with Ghana’s publishing industry.
“We are 50 years and we tried to put ourselves on the map and intentionally we have identified Kumasi to be the springboard because we realised that most of our members took their seed from and based on that we intentionally chose here,” Mr. Udzu said.
Ms. Tagoe said the Association had initially planned to hold its anniversary activities primarily in Accra but later decided to extend some programmes to other parts of the country and strengthen its engagement with KNUST.
She said the Association had begun discussions with the Department of Publishing Studies on a proposed symposium and book exhibition as part of the anniversary programme, but the initiative had since expanded to involve the wider Faculty and College.
“As much as we wanted to do what we had planned with the department, it has now grown bigger with the faculty and the college coming in to share similar ideas,” she said.
Ms. Tagoe said the Association was particularly interested in using its collaboration with the University to strengthen the intellectual basis for discussions affecting the publishing industry and education policy.
“We cannot dictate to government. We cannot tell them what to do. But we can influence their decisions,” she said.
Curriculum development was also a major area of discussion, building on proposals raised during the College’s earlier engagement with the Association.
Ms. Tagoe said the GPA was willing to work with the College to incorporate industry perspectives into academic training and better prepare students for professional practice.
“It is the students, for me, I think that we have to let them benefit from academia and industry. We have to let them know that academia is good, but when you get to the field, it doesn’t go exactly like that. So, they should be flexible,” she said.
The Provost of CABE, Professor Christian Koranteng, welcomed the Association’s renewed engagement and reaffirmed the College’s support for the collaboration initiated by the Department of Publishing Studies.
He said the College would work with the Department and the University’s International Programmes Office to refine the proposed activities and develop a formal memorandum of understanding (MoU) to guide the partnership.
“The planning, the activities, and the development of even the MOU, they will pick it up and then fine-tune it together with our International Programmes Office so that at least we’ve done something that is official that can guide both of us,” he said.
Professor Koranteng said the College’s broader engagement with industry was intended to improve resources, strengthen institutional relationships and better prepare students for professional practice.
“If you look at all the various items that we shared on that day, the focus is simple. How do we improve our material? How do we improve our relationships? How do we get the time? How do we serve our students well?” he said.
The Head of the Department of Publishing Studies, Dr Francis Nimo, said the College’s involvement would broaden the scope of the Department’s existing engagement with the Association.
“And we are also grateful to you. You being part of now means that we are going to get a bigger picture than what the original was supposed to be,” Dr Nimo said.
He said the Department would revisit its previous work and reconstitute a committee to incorporate the College’s broader institutional perspective into the proposed collaboration.
The two institutions also discussed a date and roadmap for the proposed programme at KNUST. The GPA said an agreed schedule would allow both parties to plan and publicise the event.
Also present were the College Registrar, Mr Anthony Adjapong, and the Head of the Corporate Affairs Office, Dr Ralph Nyadu-Addo.
