By Godfred A. Polkuu
Navrongo (U/E), June 28, GNA – The Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) has given financial clearance for the construction of a 400-bed capacity student hostel for the Clement Kubindiwo Tedem –University of Technology and Applied Sciences (CKT-UTAS).
The Director-General (DG) of the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC), Professor Mohammed Salifu, who disclosed this at the Second Congregation ceremony of the University in Navrongo, Upper East Region, said the move was initiated by the GTEC.
Professor Salifu announced this when the Vice-Chancellor (VC) of the CKT-UTAS, Professor Eric Magnus Wilmot, said the University with a total student population of 3,086, had only two hostels with total capacity of 256.
The DG, who was the Special Guest of Honour at the ceremony, said apart for the continuation of ongoing projects, including a multi-purpose laboratory project on the campus, the GTEC would invest in students and office accommodation, and the provision of operational vehicles.
“Only last week, the GETFund at the initiative of GTEC, gave financial clearance for the procurement of works and technical services for the delivery of a 400-bed capacity students hostel for CKT-UTAS.
“So within the next two weeks to one month at most, management should expect to see very concrete developments on account of the students’ hostel. It is a special intervention that we are doing exclusively for CKT-UTAS because we understand the challenge with posting students on campus,” Professor Salifu said.
He said three other public Universities with diverse needs would also benefit from the projects.
Professor Salifu acknowledged that the challenges were many, and said they needed to work together as stakeholders to address them.
He noted that “As the University’s enrollment figures go up, the internally generated resources appreciate, we, expect to see a little more significant allocations from within, towards some of these investments.”
He said it was gratifying that management of the CKT-UTAS was considering various strategies to enhance the revenue situation, and did its bit with limited resources.
“I was delighted to hear from management for example, that the University is currently not owing NEDCo on any of its current utility bills. That is good news,” he noted.
Professor Salifu said while NEDCo or the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) and any other service provider ensured they collected all revenue due them, the constant threats of disconnections of utilities to the Universities, had been unsettling and disruptive.
He assured management of the CKT-UTAS that the GTEC would continue to support it to ensure the University realized its full potential in the earliest possible time.
GNA