BTU secures $100,000 EU grant to boost graduate digital skills  

The Bolgatanga Technical University (BTU) has secured a $100,000 grant from the European Union to implement two and a half years pilot project aimed at equipping graduates with innovative digital skills to enhance their employability and entrepreneurship potentials.

The initiative, known as the Integrated Digital Competency and Jobs Accelerator Project (IDAP), seeks to bridge the digital skills gap by establishing an Integrated Digital Skills and Employability Hub (IDSEH) on the university’s main campus at Sumbrungu.

The hub will provide training in high-demand areas such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), data analytics, and cybersecurity, among others.

The initiative is being implemented with support from the UN Capital Development Fund under a broader project of “EU-Ghana Pact for Skills: Support Tertiary Education for Sustainable Employability Sectors.”

The IDAP project is being led by a team comprising Mr Alexis Adugdaa Ayamdor, Project Lead, Dr Benjamin Apam, Director of Quality Assurance and Academic Planning of BTU (the lead in charge of Digital Skills Training of the project), Ms. Millicent Puruseh, Assistant Guidance and Counselling Coordinator of BTU (Lead of Career Services of the project), and Mr Emmanuel Azure, Assistant Quality Assurance Officer of BTU (Lead, Industrial Coordinator of the project).

The rest are Dr Jacqueline Onumah, Head of Department of Ecological Agriculture of BTU (Trainer), Prof. Daniel Ayoung, University’s Librarian (Trainer), Mr Wasiu Alabi Amidu, Assistant Academic Planner of BTU (Trainer) and Mr Dennis Redeemer Korda, Lecturer of BTU (Trainer).

This team would oversee the implementation of the project components, ensuring alignment with both institutional goals and industry standards.

At a validation meeting to kick-start the project implementation held in Bolgatanga, Mr Alexis Adugdaa Ayamdor, Project Lead, who doubles as the Assistant Industrial Liaison Officer and the Proposal Writing Team at BTU, outlined a three-pronged strategy focused on improving graduate employability through skills development, industry collaboration, and enhanced pre-employment support services.

“As part of the implementation, we will strengthen partnerships with the private sector by reviewing and aligning institutional policies, signing formal agreements such as MOUs, reactivating dormant Programme Advisory Committees (PACSs), and hosting regular stakeholder forums,” Mr Ayamdor explained.

“These efforts will ensure industry participation in curriculum development and expand opportunities for internships, industrial tours, and mentorships,” he added.

“The initiative also includes staff capacity building to improve engagement with industry players and enhance overall collaboration with technical support from United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF),” he said.

According to Mr Ayamdor, the IDSEH would provide updated infrastructure, modular training programmes, career services featuring digital portfolios, and entrepreneurship bootcamps designed around national economic opportunities.

He added that the project would also bolster pre-employment support by expanding industrial attachment opportunities, offering job shadowing experiences, organising job readiness workshops and career fairs, and implementing graduate tracking systems.

Additional components include mentorship schemes, peer counselling, and capacity-building initiatives for staff.

Professor Samuel Erasmus Alnaa, the Vice Chancellor of BTU, expressed gratitude for the grant and emphasized the project’s potential to transform graduate employment outcomes.

“This is a significant opportunity for our students,” he said.

 “They must seize it. Only by equipping themselves with relevant digital skills can they meaningfully contribute to national development,” he added.

Source: GNA

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