Asuoyeboa (Ash), Nov. 29 GNA – The Governing Council of the Akenten Appiah-Menka University of Skills and Entrepreneurial Development (AAM-USTED) has been inaugurated with a call on the council to stick to the specific purpose for which it has been created.
Dr Mathew Opoku Prempeh, Minister for Education, who made the call said AAM-USTED had been specifically created to feed into the government’s vision of mainstreaming skills development and training and facilitating Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), as the big game-changer in the country’s industrialization and sustainable job creation agenda.
The governing council should, therefore, be guided by the aims and mandate of the University which had been clearly stated in its statute.
Among them are to provide higher education in technical and vocational training, train and provide teachers with the relevant competence for teaching in technical and vocational education and training institutions as well as foster links between the University, industry, and the community to ensure the holistic training of teachers.
AAM-USTED was created following an autonomy status granted to the Colleges of Technology Education Kumasi (COLTEK) and Agricultural Education (CAGRIC) at Asante Mampong, of the University of Education Winneba (UEW), by (Act 1026) of 2019.
Dr Opoku Prempeh said the government, through the Ministry of Education, had designed a five-year strategic plan for TVET transformation, to provide a world-class industry-led TVET system which prepared a globally competitive workforce for the social and economic development of Ghana.
The government’s initiatives under TVET vision had so far included the consolidation of all TVET institutions under the Ministry of Education, the creation of district TVET Service, the retooling and refurbishment of TVET institutions as well as the construction of 32 state of the art TVET centres.
The Minister said it was to provide a focal point for the training of TVET tutors in the country that was why COLTEK and CAGRIC had been converted into an autonomous University called AAM-USTED.
He said the role of the governing council was to provide leadership and direction to AAM-USTED in a manner that gave meaning to the government’s TVET vision and agenda.
Dr Opoku Prempeh charged the members to put in place mechanisms and processes for the recruitment of faculty and support staff of the University and also for the admission of students for the start of the 2020/2021 academic year.
Professor Fredrick Kwaku Sarfo, Acting Vice-Chancellor of AAM-USTED thanked President Akufo-Addo for granting autonomous status to COLTEK and CAGRIC to lead in the training of competent and skilled labour force for the country’s industrial transformation agenda.
He also commended Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, the Minister of Education, and all other stakeholders who helped to ensure the realization of that dream.
Professor. Sarfo pledged the continued support and commitment of the management and staff of the institution to ensure the realization of the country’s industrial transformation agenda.
The sixteen governing council is under the chairmanship of Mr Paul Akwasi Agyeman, a chartered accountant.
GNA