Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Valco Trust Fund and Bekwai Municipal Hospital to build a student hostel.
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This initiative aims to tackle the accommodation challenges encountered by clinical students during their rotations at the Bekwai Municipal Hospital.
Speaking at the ceremony, Prof. Christian Agyare, Provost of the College of Health Sciences at KNUST, expressed gratitude for the partnership and highlighted the significance of providing sufficient accommodation for students to enrich their academic experience.
“We possess the necessary resources and intend to send our clinical students to Bekwai Municipal Government Hospital over the next three years. However, accommodation shortages at the hospital have posed a challenge. To address this issue, we initiated discussions for a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the hospital. This MOU serves to assure them of our commitment to sending students there, prompting our collaboration on its draft over the past eighteen months,” he said.
The project, set to begin in a few months, will be located near the Bekwai Municipal Hospital campus, ensuring convenient access for students.
The initiative will also incorporate a 100-seater capacity lecture hall along with office spaces.
Kelvin Kwaku Yeboah, the Executive Director for Valco Trust Fund, emphasized that the facility’s purpose extends beyond student accommodation; it also serves as a tribute to Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II.
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He also mentioned that a professional facility management company will be engaged to ensure the proper maintenance of the public facility.
“We intend to honor Otumfuo’s 25th anniversary by recognizing his contribution to our hostel facility at Komfo Anokye. To avoid past issues, we’ll engage a professional facility management company. It’s clear that as public officials, we struggle with maintaining public buildings, and we’re determined to prevent a recurrence,” he mentioned.
Highlighting the challenges of establishing new medical schools, Dr. Frank Serebour, Medical Superintendent for Bekwai Municipal Hospital, emphasized the importance of a centralized teaching system between the University and its affiliated institutions.
“Schools like Sunyani Medical School can send their students to KNUST for the same lecturers to train them and ensure that we have quality products. This approach will allow for consistent training and assurance, enhancing the medical education landscape,” he noted.
Dr. Frank Serebour proposed a gradual expansion of the centralized teaching sites to accommodate more aspiring medical professionals.
He believes that such expansion would address current challenges in medical education and ensure the delivery of high-quality healthcare services.
“I think this is a good thing and i believe that once this is done, other teaching sides should also be considered and gradually we can expand so that we can have more people who want to pursue medical education,” he said.
Mr. Osei Owusu, the Member of Parliament for Asante Bekwai, also welcomed the initiative.
“For me this is a dream come true. Today is a major event for me and I’m happy that we are going to Bekwai,” he said.
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