Students and lecturers of Takoradi Technical University will for the next two years have easy access and practical industrial training from Zeal Environmental Technologies to aid hands-on teaching and learning.
This follows the signing of a two-year renewable collaborative Memorandum of Understanding between TTU and Zeal Environmental Technologies, which manages industrial, extractive and petroleum industry waste.
By the terms of the MoU, Zeal shall among other things provide three or six months industrial attachment opportunity for relevant departments of TTU students, provide industry-based training for staff of TTU, and embark on periodic visits to TTU as guest-speakers to share industry experiences with students.
The MoU also expects Zeal to help establish a Business Incubator and provide guidance for its growth, as well as provide paid-placement opportunities for students of TTU whenever available.
TTU on its part shall among other things collaborate with Zeal on research and development for mutual benefits, as well as arrange Zeal’s visit to TTU as periodic guest speakers on industrial and business incubation events.
The Chief Executive of Zeal Environmental Technologies, Kweku Ennin, after signing the MoU told Citi News this is Zeal’s corporate social investment in the development of the quality human resource Ghana needs for development.
“As part of Zeal’s vision, we realised that there is a huge gap between what companies can do for educational institutions and therefore the need for corporations such as Zeal to extend support to the universities, especially those who are pursuing entrepreneurship studies. So anytime the opportunity avails itself, we know that we have to avail ourselves to be part of it. We think TTU is doing so well, and it is never too late to team up”, he said.
Mr. Ennin added that Zeal’s interest in the MoU is to support TTU’s vision to make the university a true centre of excellence in TVET education.
“We believe in the same vision, we believe in quality and also assisting in knowledge acquisition by lecturers to raise the students. That is why, as a company, we have opened our doors over the years for lecturers and students to adapt through facility tours. So we are passionate with the development of human capital as an investment. At the end of the day, you spend or invest so much money in the acquisition of equipment but if you don’t have the human resource to manage the equipment you will be throwing money away. So this has been our motivating factor that has been driving us to call on TTU and other universities in such collaborations”, he added.
The Vice Chancellor of TTU, Rev. Prof. John Frank Eshun on behalf of TTU signed the MoU, witnessed by the Director for TTU’s Business Development and Entrepreneurship, Paul Ofori Krah. While assuring of TTU’s readiness to collaborate with Zeal to drive the business incubation project to the benefit of students, Rev. Prof. Eshun welcomed the MoU as something that offers students and lecturers the opportunity of practical industrial learning.
“The vision of Takoradi Technical University is to be a World-Class Technical University recognized as an excellent innovation centre with relevance, and I believe we need to be very relevant to society. Things are changing. We need to adapt very quickly by collaborating with industry so that we can train students for them to be employed at the end of their studies. So we find this collaboration very important and strategic. Since our niche area is oil and gas, partnership with Zeal Environmental Technologies Limited is definitely a strategic partner in that direction”
“We thank Zeal so much for opening their doors to our lecturers and students for them to come and learn first hand practical things. This would be relevant to society, especially Western Region, so I am very happy that we have signed this MoU”, he said.
Zeal is currently installing a new 1,000 kg capacity waste incinerator that can run for 24 hours and comes with high efficiency. The incinerator is expected to be operational before 2021 ending to help serve more clients in the petroleum and extractive sectors as well as help train students on internship with modern technology.
