kuulvibes …we vibb'n!
Related Articles
Takoradi Technical University, TTU, has launched a 5-year strategic plan with the objective of transforming the institution into a world-class technical research and innovative institution helping to solve societal problems.
Launching the GHS120 million strategic plan together with a TTU Endowment Fund and a Special Disability support initiative, the Minister of Education, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, said TTU is on the right path with the strategic plan as a Technical University that has so far exceeded the national STEM target.
“Today if I look at TTU’s developed strategic plan and the projections of what it wants to do, it excites me on several fronts because it is a voluntary activity that nobody told them what to do. Again, Takoradi Technical University happens to be one of the few universities that have actually exceeded the STEM to humanities ratio. All this time, we have been talking about having 60% STEM to 40% humanities which at the national level is about 39% STEM to 61% humanities now, but TTU is at 80% STEM to 20% humanities. So you’re truly making giant strides and if you go on in that direction, you will become a good example to other universities”, he said.
The Education Minister also emphasized the importance of TTU’s strategic plan for tertiary education to contribute to societal development.
“Strategic plans are a blueprint for transformation taking from point A to Z, charting a course that we should take in order to realize our fullest potential. So as Takoradi Technical University embarks on this adventure of taking themselves from the current to the future, we (Education Ministry) want to commend you for the effort you put into the development of the strategic plan, especially the members of the committee who spent time to put the drafts together…There have been many inventions by universities with several of them holding patents around the world which is a demonstration of the fact that university education is an important public good and therefore countries are now prioritizing higher education.”
“It is in line with this that recently at the State of the Nation Address by the President, he spoke about the fact that Ghana needs to move up our Gross Tertiary Enrolment ratio. This is because nations that have transformed their fortunes in the 21st Century are the nations with a Gross Tertiary Enrolment Ratio that really provides them with the critical minds and critical mass for socio-economic transformation.”
”So in Ghana, our Gross Tertiary Enrolment Ratio is 18.8, but one country that we were better off than in 1960 in per capita income, thus South Korea which invested heavily in education all the way to tertiary now has a Tertiary Enrolment Ratio of 93.6“, he added.
The Vice Chancellor of TTU, Rev. Prof. John Frank Eshun, while thanking the strategic planning committee for putting together the strategy, gave the strategic themes of the 5-year strategic plan that came with the launch of a new website.
“The vision is to transform Takoradi Technical University to become an innovative, world-class institution of higher learning, rooted in quality teaching, learning and applied research. Our strategic plan has four broad themes and fifteen (15) strategic objectives. These themes have been carefully crafted from the Sustainable Development Goals. These broad themes are: Institutional development; applied research, innovation and infrastructure development; social development; and environmental development”, he said.
Giving the objectives of the 5-year strategic plan that would end in 2025, the Vice Chancellor of TTU said it sets the important milestones for the University and what it needs to do to position the University on the path of sustainable growth in the current competitive era.
“The strategic plan seeks to provide;
1. A clear objectives and direction for Takoradi Technical University
2. Identify and focus on viable and realistic strategies and activities
3. Promote optimum utilization of available resources (efficiency)
4. Promote maximum realization of stated goals and objectives (effectiveness)
5. Promote responsiveness to environmental forces – demands and expectations
6. Create opportunities for growth, expansion and sustainability
7. Improve the image of Takoradi Technical University through aggressive promotional campaigns and corporate branding
8. Set clear output and outcome targets and indicators against which Takoradi Technical University performance will be measured and judged.“
The Chairperson of the Governing Council of TTU, Professor Henrietta Abane, said the Strategic Plan is timely which is key to the governing council and management’s reforms to make the university responsive to the needs of students as well as the society. She however made a case for the Special Disability Support Initiative to support the over 74 students with disabilities at the Takoradi Technical University.
“The Special Disability Support initiative seeks to help students with disability to access a range of support to help them succeed in their studies. This programme has become necessary in the light of the large numbers of students particularly with hearing impairment admitted to Takoradi Technical University over the last couple of years”, she said.
The Omanhene of Essikado Traditional Area, Nana Kobina Nketsia who chaired the launching event said policies are so important in helping to develop the needed human resource with the right mindset for Western Region and for that matter Ghana’s development.
“The resource of the mind is so important that if we don’t have the correct mindset, everything will go waste… All our universities have become the outpost of the Western World and we all know that the Western world doesn’t like Africa and you don’t allow your enemy to educate you which is part of our problem. So this is the challenge that we have and Takoradi Technical University must show a unique example…You’re supposed to be the light of Africa. That is to tell you the problems that we are having and even the misgovernance that we are having is all through somebody else’s mindset. So long as you’re borrowing somebody’s mind, you will always be an ape. A university is to give us our own knowledge…and this university must mean something to all of us to commandeer resources to support it”, he said.
The Western Regional Minister, Kwabena Okyere Darko Mensah who graced the occasion said TTU’s strategic plan is inline with the region’s development goals which must be supported.
“If we have Ghana Beyond Aid, then there should also be a Western Region Beyond Aid which is a strategic vision by the Western Regional Coordinating Council to become the model region of this country….It is on this note I’m happy that the key objective of the TTU’s strategic plan is excellent teaching in applied research in such a way to make the university responsive to the needs of its stakeholders. We at the RCC have already started collaborating with the university….We are developing business plans with the university for our districts to make the region ready for investment. We have also given them some major activities to undertake for the region. As I speak now, the Takoradi Technical University has developed a new model traffic light for our city and we are going to implement them soon. It is therefore our wish that this new strategic plan for the university would go a long way to make TTU the best in the country. We believe that they cannot do that without finance and therefore the idea of the fund for the University and the disables are thoughts in the right direction, the RCC will support you with this plan”, he said.
Kwabena Okyere Darko Mensah added that Ghana must be developed by Ghanaians and Western Region must also be developed by westerners thus donated GHS30,000 to the fund.
This was followed by several donations towards the fund including GHS 20,000 donation by the MP for Effia, Joseph Cudjoe as the host MP of the university, GHS50,000 by the Education Ministry as well as GHS10,000 by the Takoradi Technical University Alumni.
