An Electronic - Learning Centre (E - Learning Centre) has been commissioned to enhance the academic development of the University. The E - Learning Centre has been established through a collaboration between the Government of Ghana via the Ministry of Communication and the Government of India.
In a welcome address, the KNUST ICT Consultant Dr. Michael Asante, briefed the gathering on the benefits of studying at the Centre, the programmes the centre run currently, other functions that the Centre can undertake aside lectures and also the future prospects of the Centre.
He disclosed that, the E - Learning Centre hosts lectures through live video feeds. Lectures can also be recorded and made available to students who might miss those lectures. All students have their own portals; can have access to all lecture videos and other supplementary lecture materials. Dr. Asante also said, the Centre has a website where information on professional courses run by the centre and other universities can be accessed. Furthermore, he explained the role of E - learning in networking, the transfer of knowledge and the exchange of skills. "A total of 126 students from all over Ghana have been enrolled into various programmes at the Centre", Dr. Asante noted.
Currently, the E - Learning Centre offers professional courses such as Masters in Business Administration (International Business), Master of Science in Finance and Control and Post Graduate Diploma in Information Technology all from Amity University in India. Other courses offered are, Masters in Business Administration (Human Resource and Marketing) from Indira Gandhi Open University and Master of Science in Information Technology from the University of Madras all in India.
He reiterated the other functions of the E - Learning Centre such as holding video conferencing meetings, executive meeting place for seminars and presentations. He expressed gratitude to the Government of India, the Indian High Commission, the Ministry of Communication, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Development Office, the Procurement Office, the staff of the University Information Technology Services (UITS), the Vice - Chancellor Prof. Kwasi Kwafo Adarkwa and the PRO Vice - Chancellor Prof. William Otoo Ellis for their immense contribution and for making the project a reality.
The Indian High Commissioner, Ruchi Ghanashyam the Chairperson for the occasion in an address said that, the former President of India Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam generated the idea of linking African countries through Capacity Building. In this direction, the initiative of developing E - Learning in tertiary institutions in Africa came into being. She noted that, KNUST is the first tertiary institution to begin Capacity Building in a developing country in Africa via E - learning. She said, students studying the E- learning courses would have the opportunity to visit the partner universities in India.
The Dean of the Faculty of Distance Learning, Prof. Edward Badu, told the gathering that, the faculty is a major collaborator in ensuring the establishment of the E - Learning Centre. People who cannot be in the traditional classroom of a lecturer having a direct contact with the student due to various reasons now have the opportunity to be in a virtual classroom through E - learning, he said. He stated that, through E - learning, the expertise of the three (3) universities involved in teaching the various courses become available to students studying those programmes.
The Vice - Chancellor Prof. Kwasi Kwafo Adarkwa in an address said, the E- learning programme will offer more avenues for more students to attain tertiary education and acquire degrees from Indian universities at a less expensive rate. He stated that, the E - Learning platform is one of the initiatives employed by the university to alleviate the many challenges associated with acquiring higher education, such as inadequate teaching and learning facilities.
"Each of the partner Indian universities will prepare and communicate a teaching or teleconferencing schedule to commensurate with the credit value of each of the courses offered by them in a given semester so that students can prepare and schedule themselves", he said.
Prof. Adarkwa further noted that, student evaluation, certification and communication of grades will be the responsibility of the counterpart Indian Universities and be made available online. "Thus, students after their studies via the E - Learning programme will receive the certificate of respective Indian universities", he added.
He commended the first batch of students who have enrolled into various programmes at the E - Learning Centre. He also commended the Government of Ghana's Ministry of Communication, the Government of India, the participating Indian Universities and the Staff of UITS.
In her closing remarks, the Indian High Commissioner, Ruchi Ghanashyam emphasized that, studying with the Indian Universities will expand the knowledge base of the students. She also encouraged the students who have been enrolled to study hard as their success through the E - Learning programme depends on it.
Present at the gathering were, Harish C. Arora (Counsellor at the Indian High Commission), Sahil Sharma (Project Engineer TCIL) and some enrolled students of the E - Learning programme.
A tour round the Centre was organized after its commissioning.
