Accra Polytechnic partner German solar company to offer students free oil, gas tution
The Management of the Accra Polytechnic yesterday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a German-based solar energy giant, Kinetic Development Company (KDC), to offer free tuition in oil and gas to interested mechanical engineering students.
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The three-month intensive tuition is intended to train students in pipeline welding, pipeline storage and maintenance, pipeline transportation and handling, and pipe coating.
Though it will not be part of the normal school curricula, students who would go through the very intensive short course would be awarded an international certificate that would offer them a guarantee to be able to work in any energy industry.
It is also intended to prepare the students to have an in-depth knowledge in the oil and gas industry in order to provide a human resource facet of local content in the country’s energy industry.
MoU laudable
Speaking at the ceremony in Accra , the Rector of Accra Polytechnic, Professor Sylvester Achio, described the collaborators as “dependable partners” who would help the students as well as the school.
He said the signing of the MoU came at an opportune time when the country was preaching about the culture of maintenance and also exploring gas and its components.
More collaboration
He said though the MoU was signed to collaborate in the oil and gas sector, there were other areas that needed further partnership to help the institute meet the requirement to be the first Technical University in the country.
Among these was the issue of energy where Professor Achio said the institute was planning to expand its source of energy to solar “so that the lighting system and certain low capacity gadgets could be very operative when the national grid is not on”.
Professor Achio said the school was also trying to expand its water supply system to deep dug wells that would help to resolve the water challenges facing the school and all other water related issues.
He said the school also had a high population that produced a lot of waste hence the need to establish a biogas centre that would not only benefit the school but help give a practical training to students on biogas.
Centre of excellence
In his remarks, the Chief Executive Officer of KDC, Mr Kwame Tufour, said apart from the training, the company was going to build a centre of excellence that would provide an opportunity to not only train polytechnic students but all other interested individuals across the country and the sub-region.
He expressed the hope that the students would take advantage of the opportunity provided to acquire knowledge that would help them in the not too distant future.