Wednesday, June 30, 2010

T-POLY TO TRAIN AIRCRAFT TECHNICIANS (PAGE 11, JUNE 30, 2010)

THE Takoradi Polytechnic will from next year collaborate with two training institutions in the United States of America to mount new courses to train aircraft maintenance technicians .
Other new courses to be introduced will also cover the oil and gas sector to ensure that the school is well positioned to provide the needed skilled labour for the emerging industry in the country.
The two institutions are Maintenance Training Institute and Afrimetric Engineering Inc in Cincinnati and Ohio respectively .
The Rector of the Takoradi Polytechnic, Prof. Daniel A. Nyarko, who made this known at the school’s congregation in Takoradi, said the school would also be counting on the rich expertise of the Ghana Air Force to enrich the knowledge of the students who would be pursing programmes in that area.
In the areas of oil and gas, the rector said plans were well advanced to introduce the related courses aimed at training technicians for the industry.
He said the polytechnic was in the process of being accredited by the City and Guild as well as Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport both in the United Kingdom.
Prof. Nyarko said with the accreditation, Takoradi Polytechnic would be in the position to run specific technician courses to be certified by these organisations.
He said some of the technical areas that would be covered include specialised training in the field of welding, fabrication, logistics, transport, and warehousing among others which were in high demand by the oil industry.
Prof. Nyarko said in order to satisfy the demand on the country to supply the needed labour for the emerging oil industry, the polytechnic was well positioned to carefully design programmes that would satisfy this needs.
He said this year the polytechnic had also received accreditation from the National Accreditation Board to run new Bachelor of Technology programmes which would lead to the award of B-Tech Degrees in procurement and civil engineering.
The B-Tech programme he said was being run in collaboration with the Millennium Development Authority (MiDDA) and public procurement authority.
To support the expansion drive of the school to accommodate its dreams, he said the school had received tremendous support from the government through the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) for its infrastructural development.
Prof. Nyarko said the long-awaited school of applied arts complex is almost completed and expressed the hope that it would be ready for use by students during the 2010/2011 academic year.
He said other GETFund projects completed during the year under review included the network of internal roads that were tarred to give the institution a deserved face-lift, while ultra modern multimedia and library projects had been completed and handed over to the school for use come the next academic year.
The rector said all these facilities aimed at improving educational delivery when fully operational would position Takoradi Polytechnic as the academic hub for teaching, learning and research in the Sekondi/Takoradi Metropolis.

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