Guests present at the launch
The Ministry of Tourism, Arts, and Culture (MoTAC), through the Ghana Tourism Development Project (GTDP) supported by the World Bank has provided the Accra, Kumasi, Cape Coast, and Tamale Technical Universities with GH¢900,000 worth of equipment to provide lower-level tourism and hospitality training to hospitality students.
The presentation of the equipments, which was done at the Accra Technical University, occurred at the launching of a six-week management training programme by MoTAC focused on providing the necessary support to lower-to-upper level tourism and hospitality skills training institutions, to upgrade their facilities, curriculum, and teaching methods.
Some of the equipments presented to the universities include commercial blenders, cake mixers, microwaves, dining table sets, deep fryers, fridges, laptops, and others.
Project Consultant, Dr. James Antwi, stated that stakeholder engagements, training, and equipment needs assessment were held in order to develop efficient training modules for the students as well as the provision of equipment.
The consultant assured the students that the equipment will aid them in their studies and give them the knowledge needed to meet the demands of both domestic and international tourists.
Project Advicer to the GTDP, Prof. Gabriel Eshun, highlighted the government’s interest of improving the face of tourism in the country to aid in the economic independence of the country.
“It is the vision of the government to crack the ‘Guggisberg structure’ which is more about what is in the soil and above it. We want to position service as a cardinal component of our economic independence but that will be a mirage unless we give the requisite training to people who are in service, in this case, the students,” he stated.
Pro Vice-chancellor of Accra Technical University, (ATU) Amevi Acakpovi, expressed his gratitude to the ministry for their support.
“Our training is hands-on practical oriented in a mode generally termed as competency-based training. This mode requires a huge number of equipment and we have had difficulties getting these equipment.
Having these new equipment is a great addition to what we have already and I believe that if we make good use of it, we can train the students efficiently, “he shared.
By Abigail Atinuke Seyram Adeyemi