Kumasi Technical University offers scholarship to female science students

The Kumasi Technical University (KsTU) has instituted a scholarship package for female students studying Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) programmes.

The initiative is to encourage more females to study STEM to bridge the male-female ratio in the sciences.

So far, there has been an increase of 25 per cent of female students offering STEM courses in the university.

Event

The Vice Chancellor (VC) of KsTU, Prof. Osei-Wusu Achiaw, announced this at the 16th congregation of the university in Kumasi last Saturday where 3,546 students graduated.

They included two first-time Master of Technology graduates; 591 Bachelor of Technology graduates; 2,004 Higher National Diploma graduates, 227 professional diploma and 722 ordinary diploma graduates.

In line with the COVID-19 protocols, 70 per cent of the graduating students participated in the programme virtually, while the rest were physically present at the event.

According to Prof. Achiaw, the university also admitted more than 6,000 freshers this academic year, taking the total student population to 13,000.

He said as part of efforts to address accommodation challenges in the university, it had gone into partnership with the private sector for the construction of hostels.

"Also, our project at the Adako-Jachie campus to provide workshops and laboratories to our STEM students is scheduled for completion in July this year," Prof. Achiaw added.

The VC also said a sod would soon be cut for the construction of a new Faculty of Creative Arts building. Others are the construction of a new School of Engineering campus and a business incubation centre on its Kuntanase and Piase lands, respectively.

In its bid to become a world-class technical university, Prof. Achiaw said it had expanded its international collaborations around the world.

Appeal

The VC appealed to the government to include the university in the free WIFI project being rolled out in SHSs and other public universities to facilitate virtual learning.

He said currently, student-staff ratio in the university was 1:33, higher than the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) norm of 1:18.

Prof. Achiaw, therefore, entreated the government to allow the university to employ 500 additional staff to meet the GTEC norm.

He further urged the Ashanti Regional Lands Commission not to include the university's lands at Danyame in its ongoing redevelopment agenda at the Danyame-Ridge enclave.

"The university needs those lands to be able to achieve its development objective to contribute meaningfully to national development.

The Chairman of the University Council, Professor Dr Ben Baffoe-Bonnie, congratulated President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on the manner he was handling the COVID 19 pandemic in the country.

He mentioned, in particular, the arrangement for the early arrival of COVID-19 vaccines in the country and urged the citizenry to take the vaccine.