The Director-General of Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC), Prof. Mohammed Salifu has underscored Government’s commitment to the advancement of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) programmes in Ghana. He affirmed the focus of Government to encourage the increase to 60% enrolment for STEM and 40% for the humanities in the Tertiary Education Institutions. He made this declaration when he received the Chief Executive Officer of African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS), Lydie Hakizimana in his office.

In her response, Ms. Lydie Hakizimana acknowledged the effectiveness of GTEC and recognized the support AIMS received when setting up the Ghana Centre. She admitted that many governments are struggling due to COVID-19 but was glad to know that the Government of Ghana was still supporting STEM despite the setbacks.

Prof Salifu gave an overview of the reforms that had taken place within Ghana’s tertiary education landscape in the last few years that led to the formation of GTEC, which is the merger of the erstwhile National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE) and National Accreditation Board (NAB). He believed the merged institutions could benefit from the synergies and to seal any gaps that existed in the system.

Established in 2003, the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) is Africa’s first and largest network of centres of excellence for innovative post-graduate training in mathematical sciences. Which is intended to enable Africa’s youth to shape the continent’s future through Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education, public engagement and research. AIMS has five centres of excellence in South Africa, Senegal, Ghana, Cameroon and Rwanda. With a vision to lead the transformation of Africa through innovative scientific training, technical advances and breakthrough discoveries.

The Director-General of GTEC challenged AIMS to strive to bring to fruition their tagline  “We believe the next Einstein will be African”.