The University of Cape Coast (UCC) has held its first International Partners’ Week (iPart Week), a five-day event focused on building and strengthening global partnerships.
Over the years, UCC has worked diligently to build and sustain strong global ties, and this week’s event is a testament to those efforts, aimed at strengthening current partnerships and sparking new collaborations worldwide.
Organized under the theme: “Re-Examining our Historical Identity within the Context of Internationalization of Higher Education”, the maiden iPart Week celebration, promises a packed schedule with more than 200 participants, including international and local scholars, researchers, industry partners, government officials, and educators from UCC’s partner institutions around the globe.
In his welcome address at the opening ceremony, the Dean of the Office of International Relations at UCC, Prof. Samuel Bert Boadi-Kusi indicated that the world is internationalizing and globalizing.
He said by implication, everyone is becoming interdependent both for their development and well-being as well as facing challenges and solving problems.
According to him, institutions cannot internationalize without situating it in cultural and local context, highlighting the importance of localized internationalization
“Through internationalizing our university, we will be able to internationalize knowledge, build capacities, and enhance human development, we cannot internationalize without situating it in our cultural and local context based on our specific needs”.
He also noted that while international collaboration has often been framed through a North-South lens, South-South partnerships are gaining momentum, though they come with unique challenges as well.
Vice Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast, Prof. Johnson Nyarko-Boampong, spoke to the university’s extensive global engagement revealing that “Currently, UCC maintains over 125 active partnership agreements with universities worldwide”.
He noted that the university of cape coast is in partnership with universities worldwide adding that the institutions’ internationalization is grounded in the belief that higher education institutions must serve as primary agents in training global citizens.
“Our internationalization strategy is grounded in the belief that higher education institutions must serve as primary agents in training global citizens,” he remarked, adding that UCC’s membership in international organizations like the Association of Commonwealth Universities and the African Research Universities Alliance has enriched its global mission”.
Deputy Minister of Education, Rev. John Ntim Fordjour, opened the iPart Week, emphasizing the need for international collaboration to address global challenges.
“A challenge in a locality becomes a challenge for the entire world, education is the surest strategy for national transformation, particularly in Africa, where the youthful population presents both an opportunity and a responsibility for innovation and global contributions.”
He added that Ghana is looking at holistic transformations in the education sector with particular emphasis on relevant skills development.
The event underscores UCC’s commitment to international partnerships and its drive to prepare students for global citizenship, positioning the institution as a leader in higher education on the African continent.
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Source: ATLFMNEWS
