Takoradi Technical University and the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce have begun discussions towards deepening academia and industry collaboration. This is to help TTU train skilled employable professional workforce that meets industry needs as well as collaborates in research that promotes business.
While welcoming the 7-member delegation from the Sekondi-Takoradi Office of the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Vice Chancellor of TTU, Rev. Prof. John Frank Eshun, said the purpose of the visit by the Chamber was important as it ties-in well with TTU’s agenda of promoting a strong academia and industry collaboration to produce the kind of professionals that is relevant to industry. He said such collaborations with industry also enable the University get feedback from industry on the quality of graduates from the University who are employed or on attachment to inform a review or not.
“Gone are the days that the University was doing everything internally without connection to the outside, but now there is a need for us to collaborate effectively between
Academia and the Industry…We need to also from time to time take feedback from industry and direct our teaching to meet the needs of the industry. It’s about time we work together“, he said.
Rev. Prof. John Frank Eshun hinted that TTU is considering having honouring awards for excelling industry players.
Manager of the Sekondi-Takoradi Office of the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Francisca Ewusiwa Ansah said the Chamber cannot do without academia in their effort to promote businesses in the region hence seeking to collaborate with TTU on issues of research, facilitating industrial attachment and more importantly to bring back the “Life After School Entrepreneurs Series” programme the chamber used to run with TTU.
Madam Ansah further called on TTU to collaborate with the Chamber to have a Western Regional version of the New-Year-School that highlights how the Western Region’s economy can be turned around for the better.
Speaking on behalf of the business players, the Chairman of the Chamber, Lord Segbeawu,
said the Chamber apart from facilitating industrial attachment for students’ hands-on training, seeks to partner TTU to run mentorship programmes for students in TTU’s niche area of petroleum among others. Lord Segbeawu therefore expressed the need for a Memorandum of Understood, MoU, with TTU to define a roadmap for their collaboration.
The Registrar of Takoradi Technical University, Dr. Moses Maclean Abnory, on his part said the University welcomes all productive MoU with a clear-cut benefits to the parties.
He added that TTU has Distance Education programmes for industry players hence urged industry players to take advantage to enhance themselves.
Other members of the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry who participated in the interaction with TTU included Rita Aku-Shika Diabah, Nana Baise, Maxwell Archer, Eric Akwabeng Jnr and Charlotte Anderson.
