Sunyani Technical University (STU) has reached an agreement with a world class tourist centre, Ocean City in Maryland, USA for STU Tourism and Hospitality students to work there during summer vacations.
The deal takes effect from June 2018; it is expected to help the STU students gain practical experience and international exposure in the tourism and hospitality industry.
The Vice-Chancellor of the University, Prof. (ING) Kwadwo Adinkra-Appiah, who announced this said it is one of many academic collaborations it [STU] has secured to enhance academic work. He said STU has also signed MoUs with two foreign Universities-Fochoschule Dortmund and UMES in Germany and USA respectively.
“In the arrangement, students will be allowed to take at least a semester in either of the two Universities and their credits will be transferred to STU when they come back for smooth progression to the next stage on their programmes. Students on our Pharmacy Technician programme, after completion, will also have the opportunity to enroll on the 3-year Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm-D) programme at the UMES, USA, to be able to practice as professional Pharmacists after their training,” he explained.
The VC was addressing the 2nd matriculation ceremony, after the conversion of the then Sunyani Polytechnic to Sunyani Technical University. A total of 2,226 students were admitted in the 2017/2018 academic year; 1,320 were males and 906 females. About 56% of the fresh students opted for Science and Technology programmes while 44% are to pursue Business/Humanities.
Prof. Adinkra-Appiah revealed that the University owed the Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo) and Ghana Water Company millions of Ghana cedis. The accrued utility bills were a result of government’s non-payment; a situation that is compounding the financial challenges of STU, he added.
He said: “The University is not able to pay the bills and this has resulted in rampant disruption of electricity and water supply. To ensure constant supply, the University is compelled to use part of its IGF to settle part of the indebtedness to prevent possible students’ agitation that has potential to disrupting academic work.”
The VC made a passionate appeal for the government to intervene and settle the debt to give the University administration the respite to focus on its core mandate of student training.
