The Accra Institute of Technology (AIT) in partnership with the Open University of Malaysia (OUM) has launched 71 undergraduate and postgraduate courses out of which 11 would be rolled out within the 2010/2011 academic year.
The AIT will offer the courses, which include Computer Science, Information Technology, Business Administration, Education, Management and Engineering from its Accra Campus using its open learning academic programme delivery infrastructure and technologies as well as those of the OUM.
The launching of the OUM programmes as well as the use of its open infrastructure by the AIT to run the programmes was enabled by a Memorandum
of Understanding signed by the two institutions in Accra on Thursday.
Dr Joseph Annan, Deputy Minister in-charge of Tertiary Education who launched the programmes on Friday said government considered the concept of open-university system crucial because it would broaden access to tertiary education leading to availability of skilled labour for development.
Dr Annan said government was committed to broadening access to tertiary education and was working to modernize the country's educational system using Information and Communication Technologies to improve and expand access to training and research resources and facilities for improved quality.
He said education could be a huge foreign exchange earner for the country as well as give her a good name as she educated the people to the
highest international standards and developed the manpower of her neighbours.
Dr Annan encouraged the country's universities to use the emerging educational delivery technologies to attract more students from Ghana and the West African sub-region and beyond.
He commended the AIT for its lead role in implementing the open-university system and pledged government's support in all respects to
ensure the success of the partnership.
Professor Clement Dzidonu, President of AIT, said the Institute would deliver the programmes online to students in Ghana and other West African countries with the partner universities awarding the degrees.
He said the open-university concept was the way to go if Ghana was to drastically improve university enrollment for her people.
Professor Dzidonu said AIT had secured a full accreditation to open a campus in Togo to serve the francophone countries in the region.
Professor Emeritus Anuwar Ali, President and Vice Chancellor of the OUM, reiterated OUM's commitment to the partnership and promised to bring its experience to bear on the activities of the AIT.