For that reason, he said, that agenda remained one of the most important objectives of his government, as it had become the new language, new science and new knowledge for the progress and development of the human race.

President Akufo-Addo said this when members of the Governing Council of the Ghana Communications Technology University (GCTU) paid a courtesy call on him at the Jubilee House in Accra last Friday.

Formerly known as the Ghana Telecom University College, the institution was converted into the GCTU under Act 1022 (2020) of Parliament.

It is now a public university.

“If we lag behind in these sciences and new knowledge, then we are going to lag behind in our development as a people, and that is: where we are is where we stay. We cannot afford that under any circumstances,” the President indicated.

He gave an assurance that the GCTU would be supported to 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 administrative and academic body of the school for their commitment and urged them to continue to give of their best.

He described the alliance the school had with Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education as an extremely important move that should be the learning curve, saying it connoted a lot of possibility for the country.

He said it would be very great that in the next five years, the GCTU would be the talk of the town and the hub for learning in West Africa, a feat that would be a tremendous achievement.

Constraints

President Akufo-Addo said the government had financial constraints, adding: “That notwithstanding, progress must be made.”

The Council Chairman of the GCTU, Prof. Kofi Awusabo-Asare, commended the President for ensuring that the institution was converted into a public university, saying that had brought a lot of reprieve, including the payment of staff and lecturers.

He said the school was unique because it was originally set up by the British to train people in telecommunications in West Africa, and that with time it had been turned into an excellent centre for communication studies in West Africa.

He said the university had partnered JUSPON to have an ICT centre for incubation, where students would develop their ideas for the learning period and even if they were not able to come out with products, they might still gain knowledge.

He added that even people repairing mobile phones and computers would be offered training in study centres scattered across the country.

VC

The Vice-Chancellor of the GCTU, Prof. Emmanuel Ohene Afoakwa, said the matrix that ranked universities in the country placed the GCTU as the ninth best university in Ghana and attributed that to the support of the government.

He said the university, in its bid to become the Silicon Valley in Ghana, had submitted applications for 14 new programmes in the area of ICT including Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Cyber Security, among others.