The Deputy Minister for Education in charge of General Education, Rev. John Ntim Fordjour, has challenged tertiary institutions in the country to strive for the training of more researchers towards the development of the country.
He explained that as a developing nation, there was a need for more groundbreaking researchers to be trained to lead in the drive for creativity and innovation towards the transformation of the nation’s development agenda.
Rev. Ntim Fordjour made the call at the 56th congregation of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Kumasi on Friday,
He commended the KNUST for its role in the training of many professionals in various fields in the country and the rest of the world and called for it to deepen its collaboration with various stakeholders towards the development of research across the globe.
The Deputy Minister explained that the massive push towards the development of STEM education from Kindergarten to the tertiary level across the country by the government attested to the effort being made to increase access to STEM education in the country.
Commendation
Rev. Ntim Fordjour who is also the Member of Parliament for Assin South lauded the Asantehene for his role played towards the development of education at the KNUST and the rest of the country.
The Vice Chancellor of KNUST, Prof. Mrs Rita Akosua Dickson lauded the past leaders of the University for their roles played in leading to the feat chalked so far.
She used the occasion to enumerate the various awards and gains made by faculty members, students and other stakeholders bringing glory to the image and laurels of the university.
The VC praised the government for the massive infrastructural development it assigned to the institution over the years and promised to make good use of them to promote the development of education and research in the country.
Background
As part of activities marking the 70th anniversary of the University, the Chancellor, His Royal Majesty Otumfuo Osei Tutu II on 27th October 2021 launched activities to commence the celebrations under the theme: “KNUST, 70 years of Global Impact; A New Age for a renewed Focus”.
As part of the year-long celebrations, several activities were organized, including distinguished Alumni sharing their experiences as students of KNUST in the media, and some, who are captains of industry, holding discussions on bridging the gap between academia and industry.
The congregation saw a total of 16,562 graduating out of which 13,726 (82.88 per cent) were undergraduates and 2,836 (17.12 per cent) postgraduates.
Out of the postgraduate graduands, 124 graduated with PhD degrees of which 31 (25 per cent) of them were females.
