ICT University comes to Ho Polytechnic and EPUC

Ho Polytechnic and the Evangelical Presbyterian University College (EPUC), Ho have been given major shots in the arm in their quest to revolutionize teaching, learning and research and expand the field of opportunities for students, faculty and others beyond their campuses.

This followed the inauguration of an E-Learning Centre each provided by the ICT University (ICT-U) of Lousiana, USA at the two institutions on Wednesday.

Through these Centres, the two institutions got linked to the ICT- U for purposes of teaching, learning and research.

The collaboration also included the exchange of lecturers and students and award of scholarships by the ICT-University.

Each Centre has 25 computers, 25 work camps and 25 head phones.

Students could access lectures and interact with their lecturers through their personal computers and smartphones anywhere via the Centres.

The Centres were inaugurated by Professors Victor W.A. Mbarika, President of ICT University, Emmanuel Kodzo Sakyi, Rector Ho Polytechnic and Dr Cyril Faryose, President of the EPUC on the respective campuses on Wednesday.

This was the fruition of Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) between ICT University on the one hand and the two Ghanaian institutions on the other.

Professor Mbarika said one million electronic books on various disciplines would be available through the facility beginning with 300,000 books this academic year.

These books would be accessed free of charge as part of the Centres’ aim of reducing the cost of university education to students in Ghana.

Professor Mbarika said courses which cost students about 30,000 dollars in the USA would be available to students locally at between 1,000 and 2,000 dollars on flexible terms.

He said the aim of the collaboration was to make university education much cheaper and flexible to access.

Professor Mbarika said major universities were adopting e-learning and education and Ghana and Africa could not afford to be left behind in the race.

Professor Mbarika, a Camerounian said he therefore made it a point to extend the ICT University project to Africa as rapidly as possible.

He hinted that ICT was fast changing human activities to the extent that ICT is rendering “toilet rolls obsolete in the toilet.”

“If you are still using toilet paper you are way, way, behind,” he remarked.

Professor Mbarika said the rest of the world would not wait for Africa to join the ICT revolution.

“You have to make it work,” he said referring to the application of the E-Learning Centres.

Professor Sakyi said the inauguration of the E-Learning Centre was a major boost to the Polytechnic’s vision of being an institution of excellence and innovation.

He said the Centre would boost research, teaching and learning at the Polytechnic especially so when the institution was aspiring to become a technology university.

Professor Sakyi was optimistic that through the Centre, the Polytechnic could offer opportunities to students in Togo, Burkina-Faso and Benin to access its programmes of study and give meaning to its distance learning programme.

Dr Fayorsey on the other hand praised Professor Sakyi for sharing “the pie” with the EPUC.

“Professor Sakyi could have kept the opportunity to the Polytechnic, instead he remembered us and linked us, we shall be ever grateful to him,” Dr Faryose said.

He said the value of Professor Sakyi’s gesture was in the fact that EPUC’s efforts to forge links between it, other such institutions had always hit a snag because “they said we are a small institution.”

Dr Faryose said Volta Region was blessed to have two such Centres of learning describing them