‘Bridge gap between industry, academia’

Prof Amevi Acakpovi

 The Acting Vice Chancellor of the Accra Technical University (ATU), Prof Amevi Acakpovi, has expressed the need to bridge the gap between industry and aca­demia.

Prof Acakpovi was of the view that industry lacks trust and confidence in academia because the ‘mar­riage’between them had not worked well over the time.

He said this in an interview with the media on Tuesday at a press soi­ree dubbed “An interview with the Vice Chancellor.”

According to the Acting Vice Chan­cellor,the Curriculum Base Training (CBT) approach was the solution to many of the challenges between the two sectors and that, the CBT was in the mandate of the technical universities.

He said it was prudent to in­volve industry right from the de­velopment of the curriculum, have them participate in the upbringing of the students by offering some train­ing, conferences, internship oppor­tunities and get feedback from the industry to further improve and vary the content of the curriculum.

He mentioned that it was im­portant to bring out the innovation that the university came across in terms of applied research which he described as solutions to societal problems.

“In subsequent years, we will increase our media presence to showcase the innovations of staff and students of the university such as the snack to combat cancer which is being registered by the Food And Drugs Authority (FDA), the shelling machine, and the tricycle which was converted to electricity from com­bustible engine, in order to regain our confidence,” Prof Acakpovi said.

 By Jemima Esinam Kuatsinu