The Global Director of Programmes at World University Service of Canada (WUSC), Mr. Sam Landon, and some other bigwigs of WUSC paid a courtesy call on the Vice-Chancellor of the Akenten Appiah-Menka University of Skills Training and Entrepreneurial Development (AAMUSTED), Prof. Frederick Kwaku Sarfo, on March 12, 2025.
The visit was to appreciate AAMUSTED for the effective and able manner in which it had discharged its roles in projects AAMUSTED and WUSC are partnering to implement. The WUSC team also took advantage of the visit to interact with some beneficiaries of Invest-in-Her, one of the projects, and jointly commission a Career Counseling Centre established in AAMUSTED as part of the WUSC-AAMUSTED projects.
WUSC is a Canadian non-profit organisation that specialises in international development and education and focuses on improving opportunities for young people, women, and refugees.
AAMUSTED is currently collaborating with it to implement two projects – Innovation in Non-traditional Vocation and Skills Training (INVEST) and Accelerating Change Through InnoVation in Agricultural TVET (ACTIVATE).
Under the INVEST Project, AAMUSTED is rendering Gender Responsive Pedagogy training to facilitators from TVET Institutions and also playing a front role in the Invest-in-Her strand of the INVEST Project in which young ladies are receiving training and empowered to go into male-dominated careers like electricals, welding, and Information Communication Technology (ICT), etc.
Again, AAMUSTED is offering Competency-Based Training in Agricultural Technical and Vocational Education and Training (ATVET) to at least 500 individuals drawn from various agricultural-based educational institutions and agric-based hubs and incubation centres across the country under the ACTIVATE Project. That project aims to strengthen social inclusivity, gender-responsiveness, and market-driven ATVET systems in Ghana and abroad.
Interaction with beneficiaries
During the courtesy call, Mr. Landon minced no words in eulogising AAMUSTED for its Yeoman’s role in ensuring the marked successes that the INVEST and the ACTIVATE projects had recorded in Ghana.
“You have been a great success with INVEST; your work has been commendable,” he said, indicating the Canadian Government’s willingness to continue supporting the project because of its success thus far.
He said WUSC would continue working with AAMUSTED because the University’s mandate was in alignment with the mandate and vision of WUSC.
Some of the beneficiaries interacting with Officials of WUSC
Prof. Sarfo, for his part, also thanked the management of WUSC for being faithful and committed to providing the necessary support and funding for the projects. He also appreciated the mutual respect and cooperation that had characterised AAMUSTED’s collaboration with WUSC.
The Vice-Chancellor also indicated AAMUSTED’s willingness and readiness to continue working with WUSC, assuring WUSC that AAMUSTED would remain steadfast in its loyalty to the terms of their partnership and ensure to deliver excellence in all its dealings with WUSC as it does in all other partnerships that the University is involved with.
Beyond offering training to beneficiaries of the WUSC projects, Prof. Sarfo hinted that the University was exploring the possibility of absolving some of the trainees as technicians in the University. He, however, pointed to the lack of ‘financial muscle’ as the only stumbling block to the University absolving the trainees.
The Country Director of WUSC and Director of ACTIVATE Project, Mrs. Appiah Wiafe Adofo, reiterated WUSC’s commitment to support efforts that would make TVET work well for the youth of Ghana. He said WUSC would continue to work with educational institutions to identify actual needs and work collaboratively with relevant bodies and institutions to address them for the greater good. She hoped for a stronger and deeper bond between WUSC and AAMUSTED.
The Director for the INVEST Project, Mr. Elvis Brenyah Appiah-Kusi, hinted at a new project that he said WUSC was about to roll out and said AAMUSTED could be vital to it.
Some of the beneficiaries of the Invest in Her project asking questions or making comment during the Official interaction with the WUSC team
Other AAMUSTED Management members who were present to receive the WUSC team were the Registrar, Mr. Augustus Kwaw Brew; the Director of Finance, Dr. Jeff Danquah Boakye; and the Dean of Graduate Studies, Prof. Humphrey Danso. Also present were the Dean of the Faculty of Technical Education (FTE), Prof. Emmanuel Appiah-Kubi, and the Deputy Director of Finance, Mr. John Awuni.
The WUSC team also included Madam Dorcas Hammond, INVEST TVET Advisor; Mr. Samuel Ayeh, MERL Advisor; Miss Araba Damtsiwa Penney, INVEST Project Officer in Kumasi, and Madam Sherita Acheampong, in-charge of Administration and Finance at the Kumasi Office of the INVEST Project.
