By Philip Tengzu
Wa, Feb. 8, GNA – The Management of Dr Hilla Limann Technical University in Wa has initiated measures to enable it to live up to the status expectated of a technical university and contribute to the industrial and commercial development of the nation.
The university has, therefore, opened a four-day Quality Assurance workshop for its staff to help build their capacity to effectively contribute to the school’s development.
The participants would be taken through Team Building, Quality Assurance, Fund Raising Strategies, Research Methods, Academic Writing and Grant Writing skills.
Professor Elias N.K. Sowley, the Vice-Chancellor (VC) of the University, said the school was saddled with financial challenges, hence the need to devise ways of raising funds for its holistic operation.
He said government alone could not meet the financial needs of all institutions in the country, adding: “We just have to be realistic and know that we have to help ourselves, we have a lot of opportunities out there that we can take advantage of.”
Prof Sowley said management was working hard to make the university relevant to the local economy by devising innovative ways of facilitating small scale industries’ development such as agriculture and smock weaving.
He identified teamwork as a key ingredient in helping to realise the vision set for the university to produce the required skilled human resource fit for the regional and national industrialisation drive.
The low Internally Generated Funds (IGF) due to low enrollment of students recorded over the years had resulted in the financial challenges bedeviling the school, he said.
However, Prof Sowley said the low enrollment was occasioned by the lack of hostel facilities for students and limited infrastructure, which discouraged some students from patronising the school.
Dr Violet Makuku, a Quality Assurance Specialist, who facilitated the workshop, observed that the school needed to be transformed to meet the status of a technical university after being upgraded from a polytechnic.
She emphasised that the university should collaborate with its alumni body in fundraising and grant proposal writing to bring the institution out of the financial doldrums to enable it to drive the economy.
The internationally-acclaimed facilitator assured the management of the school of her support to co-create a vision for itself and develop a centre of excellence as part of efforts of rebranding the institution.
Dr. Makuku also entreated the management to ensure transparency and accountability in the application of the funds to build the trust of its collaborators and partners.
GNA