Committee on new university in talks with chiefs

A technical committee on the proposed public university in the Eastern Region has started talks with traditional rulers for the release of the land it has identified for the establishment of the institution.

The committee is also engaged in consultations with Ghanaian and foreign intellectuals on the appropriate courses to be offered at the proposed university.

A deputy minister of Information and Media Relations, Mr Felix Ofosu Kwakye, told journalists at the Flagstaff House in Accra yesterday that the committee had identified appropriate sites for the construction of the public university.

He said the government wanted to avoid any litigation over the land for the project, hence the engagement with the traditional rulers.

The Eastern Region is the only region without a public university.

Mr Kwakye said as soon as the processes for the acquisition of the land were completed, work on the project would begin.

He said the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) was ready to provide funding for the project and indicated that the government was looking for other sources of funding as well.

The deputy minister said the university would focus on courses which would produce graduates with skills needed to address the socio-economic needs of the country.

He said a sub-committee was also concentrating on recruiting high calibre human resource to run the university.

By Musah Yahaya Jafaru/Daily Graphic/Ghana