President of the Republic of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo-Addo has officially inaugurated the Obuasi Satellite campus of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology at a short ceremony on Wednesday 4th November 2020.
Speaking at the event, the President indicated that the satellite campus which is expected to be a fully-fledged university in the near future is as a result of his zeal for education and part of his 2016 campaign promise to the Obuasi community to make it one of the richest mining towns in Africa.
“The social responsibility arrangement we had Swith the present management of Obuasi mines are all helping in reviving and improving the lives of the people in Obuasi, we can’t have a big mining operation in a poor town.”
Following the introduction of the Free SHS policy which is likely to cause a surge in the number of students to be admitted into Universities next academic year, the president believes the Obuasi campus will help students in the Obuasi community and its surroundings get access to quality education with ease.
The Obuasi campus which admitted 343 students in the 2019/2020 academic year into Engineering and Business courses related to mining, is expected to admit about 1500 students in the 2020/2021 academic year, with the addition of new courses in the areas of health that is BSc. General Nursing, Midwifery, and Medical Laboratory Science.
With initial funding from the government through the Municipal Assembly, the University was able to employ about 420 permanent staff and refurbished some of the buildings donated by AngloGold Ashanti after they vacated from the old mines.
On his part, the Chairman of the University Council, Ambassador Nana Effah Apenteng appealed to the government for more financial clearance to employ more permanent staff and also refurbish most of the buildings for the effective management of the university.
“The critical and immediate need of this campus is the financial resources for the development of the requisite infrastructure, with the addition of more programmes and the upcoming admission of the first batch of the ‘free SHS’ students, a need for more lecture theatres, auditoria, libraries, laboratories, studios, and accommodation facilities cannot be over-emphasized, it’s our fervent hope, that your excellency will come to our aid and provide the need facilities to augment the existing ones to support academic work.”
The President also accepted the appeal of the Council chair and promised that the government will provide the necessary funds to help with the refurbishing for the smooth running of the university.
–
Story by: Irene Pomaa Kumi/focusnewsroom.com
