The Senior Minister, Honourable Yaw Osafo-Maafo, the Deputy Minister of Education, Honourable Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum together with other members of a government delegation paid a courtesy call on the Pro-Vice Chancellor, Professor Ellis Owusu-Dabo at his office on Thursday, November 19, 2020.
The meeting formed part of stakeholders’ consultations on the ‘Ghana Beyond Aid’ initiative by the government.
In an interaction with the Senior Minister and his delegation, the Pro-Vice Chancellor, Professor Ellis Owusu-Dabo, stated that KNUST’s contribution towards ‘Ghana Beyond Aid’ is to train students with entrepreneurial skills for industry.
He indicated that the University had resourced Kumasi Business Incubator, Centre for Business Development and other units to promote entrepreneurship and innovation and create a network of support for entrepreneurial development.
Professor Owusu-Dabo also added that to ensure a seamless teaching and learning environment, the University was putting in place measures to establish an e-learning centre and support from the government would be appreciated. He also seized the opportunity to seek for government’s support in curbing the problem of inadequate residential facilities for students.
Responding to the request made by the Pro-Vice Chancellor, Honourable Yaw Osafo-Maafo indicated government's readiness to provide special incentives with reduced interest rates through the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Ghana for private sectors to provide residential accommodation for students of the University.
Dr. Eric Yeboah, a Senior Researcher at the Senior Minister’s Office pointed out that the clear reason for underdevelopment is the lack of finance for capital projects, hence, the over reliance on external donors. He stressed the need to work with the educational sector to champion the vision in order to become self-sufficient and self-reliant.
In a related development, the ‘Ghana Beyond Aid’ committee in collaboration with the National Union of Ghana students organised a forum for Senior High School Students at the Great Hall. The forum was under the theme, ‘Education at the heart of attaining Ghana Beyond Aid; taking stock of our progress, looking into the future’.