The Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) and Temple University in the United States have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to establish the Professor John Evans Atta Mills Scholarship for outstanding law students.
The partnership establishes the framework that guarantees discounts in tuition fees to Ghanaian GETFund scholarship awardees, who are admitted to Temple University’s Beasley School of Law to undertake Master of Laws (LLM) programmes.
The MoU
The MoU aims to advance Ghana-US academic collaboration, to build institutional capacity and to recognise the importance of providing advanced study opportunities for Ghanaian students across disciplines.
The partnership is expected to strengthen Ghana’s legal and governance capacity by developing a new generation of professionals equipped with global exposure, strong ethical grounding and the competence to contribute meaningfully to national development.
The Administrator of GETFund, Paul Adjei, and the Vice Provost for Global Engagement and Dean of Temple Rome, Dr Emilia Zankina, signed for their respective institutions.
The event, which formed part of efforts to deepen international academic collaboration through targeted postgraduate opportunities, is inspired by the late former President, Professor John Evans Atta Mills, a distinguished scholar in honour of his commitment to excellence, integrity and service.
Mr Adjei, who is championing the partnership, seeks to foster international collaboration between higher educational institutions in the two countries.
Honouring Prof. Atta Mills
Speaking after the signing, Mr Adjei emphasised the significance of such an event that honoured the legacy of the late President, who not only earned both his LLM and LLD from Temple Law, but also served as a visiting tax law professor at Temple’s Beasley School of Law from 1978 – 1979 & 1986 – 1987.
Mr Adjei stressed the importance of such a collaboration, which formed a major part of President John Mahama’s definitive vision for strengthening the education sector for the teeming youth of the country.
He pointed out that the partnership initiative was also aimed at helping the Ghanaian scholar to improve their stock, adding, “It’s been difficult for students who have the zeal and aptitude to pursue higher education because of the financial burden, so such partnerships help students overcome these financial hurdles.”
Responding, Dr Zankina pointed out that the collaboration not only made them interested in welcoming students from Ghana, but also extending partnerships to other Ghanaian institutions of higher learning.
The Provost further expressed the desire for Temple University, a public university, to have footprints in Ghana, where students would associate it with quality education for better partnership opportunities in the future.
She also disclosed that Temple University would be hosting President John Mahama next week for another historic event, where the US-Ghana cross-institutional partnership would be further deepened.
Dr Zankina was accompanied by the Assistant Dean of Graduate and International Programmes, John Smagula.
Source:
www.graphic.com.gh