UEW Partners University of Massachusetts
The University of Education, Winneba (UEW) and the University of Massachusetts, USA, have signed a partnership agreement with an umbrella tree planted at the South Campus of UEW to signify the partnership.
The founder and Executive Director of the African Community Center of Lowell, Mr. Gordon Donkoh-Halm, spearheaded the collaboration.
In an interview with UEW Media Relations, Mr. Donkoh-Halm, who is also a native of Effutu, divulged that his enthusiasm for the advancement of Winneba prompted him to consider connecting where he received his education, the University of Massachusetts, and the UEW.
"When the idea of connecting both universities came up, I consulted Professor Giles, who said he'd make it possible. So, we are grateful that Professor Giles came to Africa for the first time to make this partnership a reality," he stated.
Mr. Donkoh-Halm mentioned that a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two organisations had formally been signed. He hoped that Prof. Robert Giles would bring to the collaboration his grasp of the challenges associated with energy and how it impacts the climate.
“This is the initial stage; he is here to see what the university has and what the possibilities there are. So, we hope that there will be more opportunities down the road,” he noted.
The Director of the Haiti Development Studies Center, and Professor Emeritus at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, expressed his desire to create a global energy programme with the help of his UEW colleagues and organisations in Africa and other continents to address the challenges of energy acuity and make it possible for everyone to have access to energy while being responsible for global warming.
“Globally, we have a lot of inequity around the world in terms of who gets electricity and who doesn't, and that affects the quality of human life,” he asserted.
Prof. Giles pointed out that he would bring science and engineering students to Ghana to work with UEW on global energy challenges and push for science and technology to facilitate more equity worldwide.
The Dean of the Faculty of Science Education at UEW, Prof. Victus Samlafo, was optimistic that the collaboration would go a long way towards significantly increasing student and faculty mobility from UEW to the University of Massachusetts and vice versa for teaching, learning, and collaborative exchanges.