By Dennis Peprah
Sunyani, Mar. 10, GNA – The Sunyani Technical University (STU) has admitted 3,014 fresh students to pursue various degree and diploma programmes in the university.
According to Professor Kwadwo Adinkrah-Appiah, the Vice Chancellor, the university issued 4,943 admission letters for the 2022/2023 academic, saying the freshers, including two foreign students, comprise 2,181 males and 833 females.
In terms of disciplines, 2,503 of the students were enrolled in Science, Technology, Engineering and TVET programmes as against 511 pursuing humanities.
Addressing the 27th matriculation ceremony of the university in Sunyani, Prof Adinkrah-Appiah said the total enrolment of the fresh students showed an increase of 30.2 percent over the last academic year’s figure of 2,104 students.
The appreciable rise in student enrolment at the University can be attributed to a number of measures put in place by management to increase intake, including improved visibility of the university resulting from the 55th Anniversary Celebration, and the introduction of new academic programmes.
This, Prof Adinkrah-Appiah said called for more efforts to continuously improve and sustain visibility of the university through advertisement of its new Engineering, Science and TVET academic programmes to attract more prospective students, especially foreign ones into the university.
“When patronage of such skill-oriented industry-driven programmes is improved, it would help produce more skilled and entrepreneurially inclined graduates, who can readily find jobs or set up their own businesses to help accelerate the socio-economic development the country,” he explained.
This will also reduce the proclivity of other institutions having the opportunity to produce many graduates in the choked sectors of the national economy in order not to worsen the existing high spate of youth unemployment in the country.
The Vice Chancellor said the STU had currently received accreditation to run a number of programmes in Engineering, Science and Technology, Visual Arts and Business disciplines, which include 21 BTech, 22 HND and other programmes.
He, therefore, urged all prospective students, both within and outside Ghana, to take advantage to enroll on these industry-driven programmes at the university to acquire the requisite knowledge, technical and professional skills that would make them readily employable to avoid the “temptation of joining the so-called Unemployed Graduates Association’ after school.
On security, Prof Adinkrah-Appiah said management had put in place measures to protect life and property on the university campus which include the setting up of a police post, to augment the existing security architecture of the university.
The lighting system on campus has been enormously improved, whilst security patrols and visibility have been enhanced, he added, and however urged the students not to be careless about their personal security.
Prof Adinkrah-Appiah also urged the exhibit high sense of purpose and diligence in pursuing their academic career, so to enable them to achieve the required skillsets and competences that would make them successful in the world of work.
He said the university was determined to offer sponsorships to students who produce innovations and inventions through its Research and Innovation Fund (STURIF), saying “the Students’ Support Fund is also there to support needy but brilliant students who encounter financial challenges during their course of study in the University”.
GNA