The University of Kwazulu-Natal (UKZN), South Africa is set to sign a pact with Yaba College of Technology (YabaTech) on commencement of post graduate doctoral programmes, reports TheGazelleNews.com.
This was disclosed at the exchange of Memorandum of Understanding by the two institutions at a working visit made to the college by a team from the university led by the Dean and Head of School of Social Sciences, Prof. Vivian Ojong.
The pact, the team lead declared, is engendered to promote cooperation between the university’s College of Humanities and YabaTech to encourage direct contact and cooperation between the faculty research and administrative staff as an online training.
According to Dr. Ojong, the University of Kwazulu-Natal will offer doctoral training towards award of PhD to staff of Yaba College of Technology at a 100 percent remission of no cost to the students nor the college.
All students shall be registered as UKZN students and be subjected to all her rules, eligible to privileges except financial aid administered by the university, she detailed.
She disclosed that all coursework, supervision, research, enhancement workshops and seminars will hold online.
The collaboration, she advanced, is an expression of UKZN as the premiere University of African scholarship and opens up UKZN’s strong commitment to African scholarship to Africans in the continent to engage in research.
Prof. Ojong said that the project is expected to address the prevailing issues in African countries, where we need massive academic excellence. “We want to capacitate the staff and look at the strategies of retaining African nationals here, when we train our staff they should be able to give back”.
In the light of this, the intention is to ensure that the staff who is registered and enlisted at the University of Kwazulu Natal will not leave Nigeria, they will be here for the entire years of the programme.
Owing to the fact that the College has qualified academic staff, Prof. Ojong said they would be appointed as honorary academic or adjunct academic staff, who can also assist in providing quality research.
In his address, the Rector, Yaba College of Technology, Dr. Engr. Ibraheem Abdul assured the team that the college is open to collaboration and ready to work positively in the aspects mentioned.
He commended University of Kwazulu-Natal for coming up with such approach, having noted some of the psychological trauma attached to leaving loved ones for a long period of time to study abroad.
“University of Kwazulu Natal is forward thinking and I like this approach that you are bringing up”, he said.
The Rector stressed that, the initiative is a welcome development and the College is ready to sign the pact for the immediate commencement of the programmes.
He however solicited for the expansion of the pact to cover science and technology.
