By Bernice Bessey & Joana Lisa Quarshie
The Accra Institute of Technology (AIT), a technology-focused private university, graduated eight PhD students in the fields of Business Administration and Information Technology, during the University’s 10th Graduation Congregation held in Accra over the weekend.
The graduation was the second time the technology university had graduated students with PhDs. According to the President of the University, Prof. Clement K. Dzidonu, AIT is poised to create opportunities for individuals hoping to attain a higher level of education.
The AIT President noted that the university’s ability to aid individuals to acquire PhDs marks, not only AIT history, but also history in the annals of private university education in this country.
In his speech to the congregation, which also saw the graduation of 158 Bachelor’s degree and 27 Master’s degree holders, Professor Clement K. Dzidonu observed that this major achievement of a university, which is barely seven years old, makes AIT the first private university in Ghana to successfully offer and graduate students on an internationally benchmarked Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree programme.
According to him, this is no small achievement, if put within the context of the fact that the PhD per capita of Ghana is extremely low.
He noted that given the fact that over 250 PhD students are now enrolled at AIT, the university has become one of the leading postgraduate research institutions on the continent.
Prof. Jophus Anamuah-Mensah, former Vice Chancellor, University of Education, Winneba, and a member of the AIT Board of Trustees, who was the Guest Speaker for the occasion, commended AIT on this great achievement, and encouraged all other universities to emulate the AIT example.
According to him, the number of PhD graduates in South Africa alone annually is ten times that of Ghana. He, therefore, urged universities in Ghana to take PhD research serious, to improve the research status of Ghanaian universities internationally.
Professor Francis K. Allotey, Chairman of the AIT Board of Trustees, in his address to the congregation, indicated that the success of AIT has been possible, due to the strong collaborative relations with several top class universities across the world, like the world-class Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) of the USA and others.
He added that the AIT’s objective in all these relationships is to acquire state-of-art and the best learning, teaching and research resources and materials for its students. To him, this is the most effective way, and the best way AIT has chosen to deliver world class education for the benefit of students.
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