Volta Premier Fm
By: HTU Public Affairs Directorate
The 23rd Congregation of the University came off on Friday, February 3, 2023, where a total of 1,154 students graduated.
They comprised one MTech, 249 BTech and 904 HND graduands from the six schools and faculties of the University.
Prof. Emmanuel James Flolu, Chairman of Council presided over the ceremony at the G.M. Afeti Auditorium, where the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Ben Honyenuga presented his report to Congregation.
The VC noted that, in spite of challenges, the University was striving to become a hub of practical education and innovation and appealed to all stakeholders to put their shoulders to the wheel in delivering on the mandate of training highly competent human capital for sustainable development.
According to him, the staff profile of the University was gradually improving, as over 60 academic staff now have PhDs compared to only 14 PhDs in 2019. The University, he added was targeting at least 80 per cent of academic staff having PhDs through various forms of sponsorships.
Prof. Honyenuga added that, students’ inability to honour their financial obligations on time, posed difficulty to the University with increasing demands; nevertheless, Management was ensuring prudent use of resources and progressively re-organising production units to generate the needed Internally Generated Fund to support effective teaching, learning, research, and innovation in the University.
According to him, delays in the completion of Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) sponsored projects remained a major challenge, and appealed for the intervention of the Minister for Education to expedite action towards completion this year.
Addressing the graduands, the Vice-Chancellor commended on the successful completion of their studies, and urged them to put the knowledge and skills acquired to good use for the betterment of themselves and the society at large.
Dr. Yayra Dzakadzie, Director for Tertiary Education at the Ministry of Education, who represented the Sector Minister, reiterated government’s plan to use Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) to drive the country’s transformation agenda.
He said Ho Technical University was better-positioned for the task and tasked Management to design courses and programmes for the real world-changing experience. He iterated that government was poised to support the TVET sector to drive the transformation of the country, hence the efforts in establishing state-of-the-art laboratories and workshops for technical universities.
“Management must stay ahead of the curve for the best education and must constantly re-evaluate their programmes, to make sure it falls in line with latest industry trends and demands as the world gallops at an unprecedented speed with new things,” he stated.
Dr Dzakadzie said the country’s Gross Tertiary Enrollment Ratio (GTER) stood at 20 per cent from the previous figure of 18.83 per cent with a goal of reaching a ratio of 40 per cent by 2030 is on course.
He said the ministry was dedicated to promoting innovation and creativity by implementing Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) to facilitate a human resource foothold on the fourth industrial revolution and skills workforce.
As a result, he said five STEM base Universities have been established in five of the new regions to hone activities in the subject area, and increase enrolment in science, technology engineering and mathematics, which was crucial for the socio-economic development of the country.
The Director for Tertiary Education also encouraged the graduands describing them as holding the key to the economic transformation with their exceptional skills acquired as job creators to succeed with self-determination.
“Do not be afraid to fail as failure is one step to success. Make the attempt and remember if you don’t fail, you are not even trying. Take risks to get something you never had, you must do something,” he encouraged them.
The Guest Speaker, Madam Yvonne Ayeley Dugbartey, CEO of Makay Catering Services, Accra, and an alumna of the Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management, encouraged the fresh graduates to embrace entrepreneurship as means of creating value for themselves and others.
According to her, the world was gradually becoming more complex and graduates should not wait for white collar jobs, urging them to use the knowledge acquired to create value in society.
The ceremony which was graced by representatives of regulatory bodies, Vice-Chancellors and Registrars of sister universities, as well as traditional leaders, saw Mr. Mawunyegah Awunor, a graduand of HND Agro Enterprise Development emerging as the Overall Best Graduating Student.
