Ghana Customs Authority makes strides in tertiary education

The Director General of the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC), Prof. Ahmed Abdulai Jinapor, has stated that the role of technical expertise was very critical in the transformation of every economy.

He has therefore lauded the leadership of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) for its effort towards improving the technical knowledge of their staff to enable them to perform effectively and efficiently as tax experts in the country.

Prof. Jinapor made the observation when he welcomed the Commissioner of Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), Brigadier General Ziblim Ayorrogo after leading a high-powered delegation to the headquarters of GTEC in Accra.

Also present at the meeting were some management members of the University of Cape Coast who signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the GRA last year to design two Masters programmes; Master of Science, Customs Administration (MSc) and Master of Commerce, Customs Administration (MCom) which are expected to begin by October this year.

The visit by the team was to discuss how best they could collaborate with GTEC to help them get accreditation for the running of the two new programmes.

He congratulated the Commissioner on his appointment and the efforts he was making towards ensuring that everything was done to help their staff get the right skills towards the promotion of development in the country.

The Director General pledged to send a team to assess the preparedness of Cape Coast University towards running the two programmes.

He described the move by the Customs Division to get a course designed for its staff to enhance their capacity as very apt so they could perform their duties very well.

The DG was upbeat that the move by the Customs Division was a great feat which would help bridge the gap between academia and industry towards the development of the country.

Prof Jinapor applauded the Staff Association of GRA for being the originator of the educational concept and thanked the commissioner for the bold initiative in seeing the idea through.

He encouraged the association to strengthen the relationship that exists between them and management, and called on his colleague staff at GTEC to emulate same.

The Commissioner of Customs Division, Brigadier General Ziblim Ayorrogo, appealed to GTEC to help them in running the course which would enrich the skills and knowledge of their personnel in the course of their work.

He stated that the course when commenced would go a long way towards filling the current skill gap they were facing which does not support their operations as an institution.

The Commissioner pledged the Customs Division's readiness to cooperate with GTEC and UCC towards creating the right environment to run the course.



Background

Until the commencement of the two master’s programmes at the UCC, the Customs Division has been depending on the experience of their personnel with the knowledge acquired from the various fields but the two courses when operationalized will give specific training skills to the personnel right from the commencement of their work.

The new programme would then give hands-on training to the personnel so they would operate effectively without further training by their employers.