The University of Cape Coast (UCC), Ghana’s best tertiary institution for the 2022/2023 academic year, has begun exploring various educational opportunities and collaborative programmes available in the Republic of Indonesia.
The move, which among other things, would also cover the Science, Technology, Education, and Mathematics (STEM) space, would give a further boost to several courses including Engineering, Science, Technology, and Humanity programmes being offered at the University.
This was revealed when Professor Mrs Rosemond Boohene, the Pro Vice Chancellor of the University paid a courtesy call on Mr Paskal A. B. Rois, the Honorary Consul of the Republic of Indonesia in Ghana at his office in Accra.
The engagement allowed the two leaders to share various educational and other opportunities, which would inure to the benefit of both countries and particularly, Ghanaians.
Professor Boohene said UCC was looking at collaborative areas such as short-term training, full staff, and students exchange programmes as well as scholarship opportunities for faculty and students in Indonesian universities in all study fields.
She intimated that UCC was also seeking to increase its staff strength by building their capacities through the pursuant of master’s and Philosophy Degrees (Ph.D.) programmes by faculty and students, adding that the move would enable the university to develop and strengthen its career areas like Pharmacy, Engineering and the Arts.
She revealed that UCC was ranked in the 2022/2023 academic year as the first University in Ghana and in the West African sub-region.
“It was also the fourth in Africa and one of the best globally”, Professor Boohene added.
She stated that UCC would want to leverage the huge institutional reputation to partner with tertiary institutions in Indonesia to continue to churn out quality students from Ghana for the world at large.
Mr. A. B. Rois on his part, lauded Prof Boohene and the Management staff of the University for the success chalked so far and their continuous efforts to sustain the gains made over the decades.
He expressed the hope that the proposed educational collaboration between UCC and their counterparts in Indonesia, would open another great chapter in the relations between Ghana and Indonesia.
Mr Rois discussed the various educational opportunities that Indonesian universities and his country, could offer UCC as being requested, assuring that the collaboration was highly possible for the promotion and advancement of education in the two countries.
He said Indonesian universities provided all manner of educational programmes and opportunities ranging from Humanities, Technology, and the Sciences to Agriculture, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Pharmacy, Tourism, and Engineering amongst others for undergraduate, Master’s and Philosophy Degree (Ph.D.) students from across the world.
The Honorary Consul informed the Pro Vice Chancellor of the existence of the KNB Scholarship Scheme by Indonesia, which both faculty and students of UCC could take advantage of to better their lot including their academic laurels.
“There is also the partial scholarship where the government of Indonesia bears the full tuition cost with the student paying for the living costs and more than 15 students from Ghana were currently pursuing various educational programmes under the partial scholarship package.”
Mr Rois again explained that Indonesia, with its population of more than 270 million people and her status as a member of the G-20 group, produced almost everything the country consumed and used, ranging from food, equipment, fertilizers, clothing, military hardware, and ammunition to textiles, detergents, and soaps as well as pharmaceuticals to aircraft amongst others.
Indonesia, he said, did not only manufacture its products in line with European standards but also exported the same to several countries across the globe.
He cited one government garment factory for instance in Indonesia, PT Sritex that had a workforce of 50,000 people, emphasizing that Ghana could learn a lot of technology from Indonesia.
The Honorary Consul also disclosed that his outfit was working hard to get an Indonesian Pharmaceutical Company to partner a Ghanaian firm to produce all the childhood vaccines needed by the Ministry of Health and the Ghana Health Service for children.
He also announced the establishment of what he described as the Indonesia African Trade Mission with a vision to help African business firms and companies to collaborate with their counterparts in Indonesia for partnership in any discipline including education to move the African continent and trade to a higher level.
Professor Boohene, in her response, noted that most of the universities in Ghana and Africa were currently also looking out for entrepreneurship programmes for their students so as not only to churn out students looking for jobs but also job creators themselves with the skills and knowledge they would have acquired from the university.
She said UCC was using its Design Thinking and Innovation Hub and the Centre for Entrepreneurship and Small Enterprise Development to nurture its students to grow business ideas to become employable themselves.
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