A four-member team from the Ghana campus of Lancaster University on Friday paid a courtesy call on management of the Ghana News Agency (GNA) to explore areas of possible collaboration between the two institutions.
Dr John Grainger of the University's Academic Department and leader of the delegation, said the University was the first full branch campus to be established in West Africa that allows students to access Lancaster UK's academic excellence in teaching and research.
He said Ghana's educational system was changing gradually and that Lancaster University was excited about the country's educational environment and would want to help develop the youth who are the future leaders of the country.
"Lancaster is a world-class centre for teaching and research and aims to be ambitious in its targets and in the projects to achieve them, through research and teaching", Dr Grainger said.
He indicated that courses on the Ghana Campus, ranging from undergraduate to post graduate, are duly approved by Lancaster UK and are subject to the approval of Ghana's National Accreditation Board.
Dr Bernard Otabil, General Manager of the GNA, lauded the University for its initiative, especially the emphasis on research, saying that the lack of dedicated research was a major challenge to academic development in Ghana and Africa as a whole.
He mentioned the GNA Centre for Journalism and Multimedia training, and said the Agency would be obliged to collaborate with Lancaster University Ghana, to provide world class media training programmes, as well as other advanced certificate and diploma programmes.
Dr Otabil said the university could also take the opportunity to advertise on the GNA website to enable it to reach its target audiences on a wider scale.
The General Manager expressed appreciation for the delegation's visit and expressed the hope that the collaboration would be a mutually beneficial one.
One of the UK's top academic institutions, Lancaster University has established its Ghana campus at East Legon in Accra. The first batch of undergraduate students would commence full academic work this October.
<<Print>>