Rev. Fr. Dr Moses Asaah Awinongya, founder and President of Regentropfen University College in Ghana's Upper East Region, believes that tertiary institutions should create opportunities for young people, produce research that responds to local problems, develop businesses, and help communities build expertise to drive their own development. He made this statement after a decade of building Regentropfen University College. The institution was founded to provide greater access to higher education and professional training for young people in the Upper East Region.
Rev. Fr. Awinongya's vision for Regentropfen University College extends beyond increasing enrolment or expanding the physical size of the institution. He wants it to develop into a centre for teaching, research, and professional development that can attract and retain expertise in the Upper East Region. Many professionals from the region have travelled elsewhere in Ghana and abroad to study, work, and build careers. Rev. Fr. Awinongya believes that acquiring experience elsewhere is important, but some of that expertise must eventually find its way home.
The region cannot depend indefinitely on expertise from elsewhere to identify and solve its problems, Rev. Fr. Awinongya said. It must create institutions and opportunities capable of attracting professionals home and giving them a platform to contribute. He cited the example of a young professional from Namoo who offered to teach at Regentropfen without receiving payment. He also spoke about a relative in the United States who is a professor, pointing to the pool of expertise that could potentially contribute to higher education in the region.
Rev. Fr. Awinongya also wants to change how research about northern Ghana is undertaken. He believes organisations and companies conducting research in the Upper East Region should look to universities based in the region as potential research partners. Local institutions are close to the communities and development challenges being studied and can contribute knowledge, researchers, and an understanding of the local context.
To achieve this ambition, Rev. Fr. Awinongya wants stronger collaboration among tertiary institutions in the Upper East Region, including Bolgatanga Technical University and the University of Technology and Applied Sciences. Rather than viewing the institutions solely as competitors for students and resources, they can identify areas where their strengths complement one another. This collaboration could extend to research, investment, and joint academic programmes.
The contribution of a university should also be visible outside its lecture halls, Rev. Fr. Awinongya said. As part of activities marking Regentropfen University College's 10th anniversary, the institution is undertaking a project at Bongo Hospital. The institution is also organising a skills and trade fair intended to connect students with business executives. Students will have opportunities to pitch business ideas, with selected participants expected to receive seed funding and guidance to develop their businesses.
After its first decade, Regentropfen University College has ambitions of becoming an independent university with stronger faculties and more experienced academics. However, Rev. Fr. Awinongya said expansion must be approached carefully. Growing student numbers or introducing programmes without the corresponding infrastructure, lecturers, and academic capacity could compromise the quality of education. The institution is seeking to balance its ambition for growth with the resources required to sustain it.
Key points
- Rev. Fr. Dr Moses Asaah Awinongya wants to establish more universities in Ghana if he had the financial resources.
