The Ghana Chamber of Mines’ Tertiary Education Fund (GCM-TEF) has presented a cheque for GHȻ340,000 to 68 students of the University of Mines and Technology (UMaT) in the Tarkwa- Nsuaem Municipality of the Western Region.
The gesture is to support students and brings the total number of beneficiaries at UMaT to 96 since the inception of GCM-TEF in October 2019. In all, a total of US$93,543.91 for bursaries have been disbursed from 2019 to date; while grants for postgraduate research have reached US$53,910 over the same period.
Stephen Ndede, Chairman of the Governing Board at TEF – at a brief ceremony to hand over the cheque in Tarkwa, said GCM believes no brilliant student should be stopped from furthering his or her education due to financial constraints.
He explained that the fund supports research for faculty members and post-graduate students related to needs of the mining industry, particularly the application of automated systems.
Others, he mentioned, include scholarships for undergraduate students, industry training programmes for faculty members, and provision of educational resources for teaching and learning.
“Our desire is to continuously support undergraduate students at the university to benefit our industry and the nation at large. It is our hope that the support we are providing will motivate both students and faculty members to give of the best at all times,” he added.
He pointed out that completion of UMaT’s Faculty of Mining and Mineral Technology block reaffirms the board’s commitment, and that of the Ghana Chamber of Mines to support efforts at improving the availability of skilled personnel for the mining industry.
“We have committed over GHȻ12million toward infrastructure development at UMaT. This is an affirmation of the TEF commitment to preparing a pipeline of human capital at the university,” he said.
Joshua Mortoti, president of GCM, noted that maintaining and advancing academic research and skills development in the mining industry is a priority for the Chamber.
“As we position ourselves as the hub of mining services in Africa, research must take the lead role in our quest for top-notch productivity. Enhanced productivity requires the right human capital investment,” he said.
Prof. Richard K. Amankwah, Vice Chancellor UMaT, said the GCM-TEF aims at building the needed human resource capital for mining, and assured that the university is positioned to produce high calibre mining professionals for the local industry and beyond.
“This support has become a game-changer for UMaT and good publicity for the Chamber,” he said.
Deputy Minister Lands and Natural Resources, George Mireku Duker, suggested that the Chamber should increase its support to beneficiary students, especially females, to promote gender equality in the mining industry.
