President John Mahama with ACE partners
Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, has indicated the President’s commitment to higher education and research with the announcement of a dedicated $5m for the commencement of the ‘National Research Fund.’
He also announced the President’s directive of a dedicated fund from the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) to support five local PhD programmes.
“Let me assure you of President Mahama’s commitment to higher education and research this year, for the first time, he will operationalise the National Research Fund to which he has dedicated $5m to start, and I also heard about domestic scholarships. The President has further directed that every public university in Ghana this year will have dedicated funding from the Ghana Education Trust Fund to support five PhDs locally, in order to build faculties,” he disclosed.
He made these announcements at the 10th anniversary celebration of the Africa Higher Education Centres of Excellence (ACE) Project in Accra.
ACE, a World Bank initiative, supports higher education institutions in Africa. The celebration, themed, “Celebrating a Decade of Impact, Innovation, and Excellence,” featured members from various member countries sharing the successes the project has brought to their nations.
President John Dramani Mahama, who graced the occasion, said the ACE initiative has become a beacon of regional integration and cooperation, as they have over the last decade established more than 80 centres across over 20 countries.
He said the initiative has demonstrated that when there is a collaboration among nations, institutions, and development partners come together, its impact is exponential, making note of the achievements ACE has made over the last decade in renewable energy and agriculture.
“ACE transformative journey is a powerful testament to what can be achieved through collaboration in higher education. With over 80 centres across more than 20 countries, the ACE initiative has demonstrated that when nations, institutions, and development partners come together, the impact can be exponential. From advancing cutting-edge research in infectious diseases and renewable energy to drive innovation and agriculture and digital technology, ACE has become a beacon for regional integration and cooperation,” he stressed.
The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Professor Nana Aba Appiah Amfo, noted that over the last decade, ACE Project has seen the expansion of postgraduate in critical fields, enrolling over 90,000 students across Africa. She also noted an increase in female researchers and scientists as a result of conscious efforts made by ACE to increase female enrolment.
“We can talk about postgraduate expansion in critical fields. The ACE has enrolled over 90,000 students across Africa, including close to 8,000 PhDs and over 30,000 masters. We’ve heard about the increase in female researchers and scientists. So currently, about a third that’s 32 percent of all students enrolled at ACE are female, as a result of the deliberate attempt to increase female enrolment,” she added.
By Vera Owusu Sarpong