The World Bank through the Ministry of Education has allocated 6.4million dollars towards the establishment of a Regional Center for Energy and Environmental Sustainability (RCEES) on the campus of the University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR) in Sunyani.

When completed the center will provide tailored postgraduate programmes and short courses on sustainable energy technologies to bridge the skills gap in that sector.

The World Bank on March 27, this year approved, a total amount of $143 million of International Development Association (IDA) credits and grants to help Burkina Faso, Djibouti, Ghana, Guinea and Senegal to step up the quality and provision of applied research and higher education with a focus on the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

The UENR was chosen as one of the schools that will have the privilege of hosting a center on its campus. The World Bank through the Ministry Of Education is, therefore, providing 6.4 million dollars over the first 5 years to fund the Center’s activities.

An outdooring ceremony to officially launch the center has consequently taken place in Sunyani, at which Gbcghanaonline.com was present.

The ceremony was attended by the management of UENR led by the Vice-Chancellor, Management of RCEES and students.

Addressing the gathering, the Vice-Chancellor of the University, Prof. Harrison Dapaah outlining some benefits the University stands to gain from the establishment of the center, he said the center will be very instrumental in making the University an internationally recognized institution since it will be engaging the services of internationally renowned tutors.

The center will also aid in research on energy and the environment. In line with the arrangements, industries have been linked to the Center this, Prof Dapaah says will allow for practical and technical training for participants to have industrial experience and confidence to initiate energy projects which will be of immense benefit to the country.

For his part, a member of the International Scientific Advisory Board Prof. Chris Gordon advised students who will be admitted to the Center to use the knowledge gained, to tackle some challenges in Sunyani to serve as a testing ground to try the practical part of what they are being taught in the classroom. 

The Center is expected to train 300 postgraduates which comprises 50 PhD students and 250 master’s Students in five different programmes to be mounted.