Pro Vice-Chancellor of the Sunyani Technical University (STU), Professor Justice Solomon Korantwi-Barimah has said Universities have a mandate to build the research capacity of staff to achieve the objective to educate, create knowledge and be innovative. 

He said as an institution of higher learning, STU offers today’s youth the knowledge and skills they would need to acquit themselves creditably on the job market.

He said this when the Computer Science Department of STU organized a day’s workshop on “Systematic Approach to Research” for lecturers in the department to, among others, sharpen their research skills.

'Writing the Introduction and Literature Review of a Thesis', 'Writing the Methodology and Results' and 'Qualitative and Quantitative Research', are some of the topics treated.

“In societies with youthful populations and expanding middle classes, the demand for access to higher technical and vocational education will only continue to grow, and universities will have to negotiate the tension between increased access and sustained quality assurance.

"They will also be under greater pressure to ensure that the degrees and qualifications they offer are relevant to the societies they serve and that their graduates are employable," Prof Korantwi-Barimah told the participants.

He proposed that STU should aspire to be a research-intensive university that places a culture of research and freedom of inquiry at its very heart to generate knowledge through research.

“STU should place a high value on its system of supervision and small-group teaching, and we undoubtedly have extraordinary lecturers. Our students are taught and inspired by the same academics who are carrying out ground-breaking research. It is this seamless mix of research and teaching that should underpin STU’s reputation and brand.”

The Pro Vice-Chancellor also said another way for the institution to contribute to society is through innovation,

He said, “to be useful to society, a university must put its discoveries to work. Science and technology are not the only tools for generating knowledge, but – in the right hands, under the right conditions – are also a means of powering a knowledge economy.”

Other speakers from STU at the workshop were Dr. Edward Owusu, a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Communication Studies and the Director of Quality Assurance Unit, Dr. Benjamin Ayawli, a Senior Lecturer at the Computer Science Department and the Director of International Relations, and Mr. Isaac Kofi Nti, a Lecturer and the Examinations Officer at Computer Science Department.