The intention of the government of Ghana to develop sufficient human resources for the country’s railways subsector has seen a major boost with the matriculation of the first batch of students for the Ghana School of Railways and Infrastructure Development.
The ceremony was held by the University of Mines and Technology (UMaT) which operates the institution.
UMaT opened the Ghana School of Railways and Infrastructure Development Campus at Essikado in Sekondi-Takoradi in the Western Region this year.
About 300 students have been admitted into the school so far. Over the next four years, the school is looking to admit about 5,000 students.
It would be recalled that one of the most serious shortcomings of the railways sector that was identified by the government in 2017 was the inadequate human resource base.
The government at the time through the Ministry of Railways Development then headed by Joe Ghartey was seeking to build a multi-billion dollar railway sector with a scarcity of human resource expertise in the sector.
Mr. Ghartey, the former sector Minister, and his team took the step to address the human resource deficit in the railway sector in the country.
This led to the collaboration with UMaT to establish the Ghana School of Railways and Infrastructural Development.
The school is starting with general engineering programs this year.
In the next academic year, the school is expected to introduce new courses such as BSc. Transportation Engineering; BSc. Railways Engineering; Certificate programmes in Locomotive Engineering; Signalling and Telecommunication Systems; Rail Operation and Geotechnical Engineering.
Vice Chancellor of UMaT, Prof. Richard Kwasi Amankwah, speaking during the matriculation, observed that his outfit was poised to extend quality education to everyone.