President Akufo-Addo says his government is leaving nothing to chance in its digitalisation drive.
He believes it is the best option for the government or economy to survive in the 21st century.
That, he said was part of the reason the digitalisation agenda remains one of the most important objectives of his government; because it had become the new language, new science, and new knowledge for the progress and development of the human race.
This was when the Council members of the Ghana Communication Technology University (GCTU), formerly Ghana Telecom University College (GTUC) paid a courtesy call on him at the Jubilee House (presidency) in Accra a while ago.
“If we lag in these sciences and new knowledge, then we are going to lag in our development as a people and that is where we are is where we stay. We cannot afford that under any circumstances,” President Akufo-Addo indicated.
He, therefore, stressed the government’s commitment to supporting the school to help raise its profile and become the go-to institution for the new sciences and knowledge that were essential for survival in West Africa.
President Akufo-Addo commended the leadership of the school for their commitment and urged them to continue to give off their best.
He described the collaboration between the school and STEM education as an extremely important move that should be the learning curve since it it has a lot in stock for Ghana’s future.
He said it would be very great that in the next five years, the school would be the talk of the town and the hub for learning in West Africa, a feat he said would be a tremendous achievement.
Whilst he admitted that government had financial constraints, the President was however optimistic that progress would be made.
When he got the opportunity to speak, Council Chairman, Prof Kofi Awusabo-Asare, commended President Akufo-Addo for ensuring that the school was converted into a public university which he said has brought a lot of reprieve including payment of staff and lecturers among others.
He described the school as unique since it was originally set up by the British to train people in telecommunication in West Africa.
With time, he said it is being turned into an excellent centre for communication studies in West Africa.
He said the school had partnered JUSPON to have an ICT centre for incubation where students would be developing their ideas for the learning period and if they were not even able to come out with a product they will still have gained knowledge.
Apart from that, he said people repairing mobile phones and computers would be offered training in study centres scattered across the country.
On his part, Vice Chancellor of the school, Prof. Emmanuel Ohene Afoakwa, said the Metrix that ranked universities in the country placed them as the ninth best university in Ghana and attributed these to the support of the government.
He said the school in its bid to become the Silicon Valley in Ghana had applied to 14 new programs in the area of ICT including Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, and Cyber Security among others.
By Charles Takyi-Boadu, Presidential Correspondent