By Samuel Akumatey
Ho, Feb. 26, GNA – The newest tertiary institution in the Volta Region, the Adonai University of College of Research and Entrepreneurship (AUCRE), has kicked off with a total of 91 students.
With a focus on developing the entrepreneurial landscape through quality training and research, the university college has since its inception, attracted hundreds seeking to address gaps between education and industry.
Reverend Dr Bright Adonai, the Rector, said at the maiden matriculation ceremony, that the institution would help build a workforce that fit the needs of the ever-evolving world of work, and that its course structure had been strategically developed.
“The diversity of the 21st century and its businesses demand excellent, superior, and quality education, that requires the workforce to be innovative, creative and exceptional.
“It is evident that the global evolution over the years has shifted the direction and needs of businesses. AUCRE, therefore, deems it necessary to provide education that seeks to meet the present and future needs of our community, our country and the world,” he said.
The university runs one-year diploma programs that include entrepreneurship and enterprise, catering and hospitality management, and computer science and cyber security under the Institute of Commercial Management.
It also has technical programmes in construction and electrical engineering under the nation’s technical education commission while offering several month-long programs that provide competence in a wide variety of industrial skills.
Admission is open to senior and junior high graduates.
Ninety-one of the 98 applicants that fulfilled admission requirements successfully registered as pioneers.
The University College has five international students and has instituted a female entrepreneurial college to help increase more females to pursue economic empowerment.
It has a hostel facility and a rector’s scholarship programme to support students.
The Rector said the institution was pursuing all needed accreditation and collaborations and assured that its present campus in the heart of the Ho Municipality was being developed to a befitting standard.
The matriculation ceremony was on the theme: “Balancing Access with Focus on Entrepreneurship and Quality in Higher Education.”
Professor John-Bright Ahetto, Council Chairman of the University College, said the institution had chosen a path of historical gratitude with its entrepreneurial outlook and the focus on addressing the need for professionally trained and employable workforce.
He, thus, commended pioneering students for believing in the institution and asked them to help make it the, “talk of Africa.”
Prof. Ahetto said Ghana’s quality of education continued to make it attractive to international learners and said stakeholders should consider the need to strongly imbibe subject areas such as research and emotional intelligence.
Prof. Raymon Dziwornu, Dean of the Faculty of Accounting and Economics at the University of Professional Studies, who was the special guest speaker, commended the resolve a real estate company to venture into education, and called for the need to prioritise high academic and professional standards.
“Excellence should be a hallmark,” he said, adding, “entrepreneurship is needed to create change that we want.”
The Dean said the University should consider structures such as incubation centres and idea pitching initiatives to help stimulate sector development.
Mr Divine Bosson, Ho Municipal Chief Executive commended the quality of students and learners attracted to the new institution and said the Assembly would provide the needed support to help promote quality entrepreneurship.
Enrolment at the University College has a 3:1 male to female distribution ratio with the construction technician course being the most subscribed.
GNA