This year’s theme was: “Undergraduate Study: Purpose, Plan, Steps”.

Dignitaries and some students at the Start Right, End Well Mentorship programme

The two-day programme was organised at the UMaT Tarkwa and Essikado campus on 2 and 3 February 2023 respectively. It introduced about 3000 first-year students as mentees to the yearlong mentorship programme designed to enhance their potential and encourage them to take the right steps in building their careers.

Delivering a speech as the main speaker for the occasion, the Managing Director of Iduapriem Mine, Samuel Boakye Pobee, underscored the need for the students to be PURPOSE driven from the beginning of their academic journey, letting that purpose guide their choices and priorities, and putting in the needed and deliberate PLAN, as well as taking the necessary practical STEPS to help achieve their purpose.

“If your purpose is to learn and find solutions to challenges in the mining industry for example, then of course your plan should be geared towards going the extra mile in your studies by asking the relevant questions and learning beyond what is taught in the lecture hall, always making time to attend lectures, undertaking personal studies, and participating in group discussions,” he advised.

Students and dignitaries seated at the Start Right, End Well Mentorship programme

He encouraged the students to be problem solvers as the industry needs graduates with problem-solving capabilities and mindset. He further used the opportunity to reiterate the Mine’s commitment to working collaboratively and innovatively with stakeholders to improve educational standards in the country.

On his part, the Vice Chancellor of UMaT, Prof Richard Kwasi Amankwah, advised the students to take full advantage of the opportunity they have now to stay focused, take their studies seriously, share knowledge and work on initiatives that have the potential of delivering synergistic growth.