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The Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, has said that the C.K. Tedam University of Technology and Applied Sciences (CKT-UTAS) in Navrongo, together with three others, will receive GH¢10 million each for infrastructural development.
It forms part of a GH¢40 million seed fund from the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) to support infrastructure development in the beneficiary universities.
The three other public institutions are the University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR), the University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS), Ho, Volta Region, and the Simon Diedong Dombo University of Business and Integrated Development Studies, Wa, Upper West Region, would also benefit from the allocation, with each receiving GH¢10 million.
“The release of the funds will be effected this year before the end of the next quarter; it is our commitment to ensure that these institutions get the support they need to expand infrastructure,” the minister said.
Mr Iddrisu was addressing the 5th Congregation of CKT-UTAS in Navrongo, Upper East Region.
A total of 790 students who graduated comprised 592 undergraduates and 198 postgraduates, including four Francophone students who undertook English proficiency programmes.
James Mba Akulaa was the Valedictorian with a cumulative grade point average (CGPA) of 4.0 in BSc. Statistics.
The minister acknowledged concerns raised about the deplorable state of roads on the CKT-UTAS campus, and said that he had written to the Ministry of Roads and Highways requesting that university roads be prioritised in the next phase of road development in the country.
The congregation in Navrongo
“I trust the Minister of Roads will give your institution the deserved attention in the next allocation, and I expect work on university roads, including yours, to begin by late 2025 or early 2026,” he added.
Mr Iddrisu said that the future of the country’s development was in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), adding that “CKT-UTAS has a vital role to play in shaping the needed skilled and competitive workforce for the country’s future”.
“Our national priority is to close and eventually reverse the gap between humanities and science enrolment.
The current data shows 302,000 students in sciences versus 390,000 in humanities. We want to train more in STEM to make our country globally competitive,” he said.
Outlining the significant progress made by the university since its establishment, the Vice-Chancellor of CKT-UTAS, Professor Albert Luguterah, said the university had grown from 15 academic programmes and three faculties to 81 programmes offered across 10 schools and faculties, from undergraduate to Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) level.
He, however, expressed concern about staffing constraints, saying that the university had only 343 staff members and over 40 casual workers being paid from internally generated funds.
This, Prof. Luguterah said, was exerting a heavy workload on the teaching staff, and appealed to the government to help recruit more staff to improve teaching, research and community service.
