The Ministry of Communications and Technology under the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) is exploring the possibility of linking the Ghana Telecom Training School (GTTC) with the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) to enhance Distance Education in the country and the ECOWAS Sub-region as a whole.
The Minister of Communications and Technology, Mr. Felix Owusu-Adjapong made the announcement at the 2nd Diploma of Telecommunication Engineering (DTE) graduation ceremony in Accra last Friday. Twenty-four students graduated and were presented with certificates. Six were also given special awards.
The Minister said Ghana is to reach out for the best technology in developing telecommunications infrastructure and he said the challenge is to up-grade its narrowband fixed and mobile networks to support broadband multi-media content.
It is in pursuit of this, Mr. Owusu-Adjapong said, that the government is seeking further investment to modernise and transform Ghana Telecommunications Limited (GT) into a world-class service provider. The government regards the provision of telephone access as a fundamental right, he said, thus every effort is being made to extend access to all parts of the country.
He said this will enable the company as a strategic stakeholder to contribute substantially to the nation's development and called on the employees for greater output and a commitment that will reflect the positive changes that are being introduced.
The Managing Director of GT, Mr. Dato' Abdul Malek Mohammed said the DTE is to help quell the brain drain which has hit every sector by way of training engineers to provide reliable, efficient and flexible telecommunication services.
The General Manager of GTTC, Mr. Robert Abrefa-Kodom called on the government and corporate bodies to help upgrade GTTC into a centre of excellence. He said the Diploma programme alone costs GT over $250,000 per annum. He lamented that the training equipment purchased seven years ago is obsolete and cannot sustain the current training programmes that use ICT.
Also present was the Director of Affiliate and Diploma Programme, Multimedia University in Malaysia, Mohamed Rahimi Yussof.
Students who pursue the DTE programme complete in two years using their last semester in Malaysia for industrial training, which is aimed at exposing them to the wider telecommunications industry before being offered employment at GT.
