The University of Ghana received a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to embark on a study tour of teaching and learning centres in selected institutions of higher learning in the USA and South Africa. The intention is to visit institutions with established learning centres to interact with officials and learn from their experiences to serve as a guide in designing the proposed centre at UG.

We also see this as an opportunity to foster partnerships with these institutions for collaborations and joint programmes. This will facilitate the comparability of learning experiences and standards of teaching and learning across centres. One of the University of Ghana’s strategic priorities is “promotion of academic excellence using the highest international standards of teaching, learning and leadership development”. This calls for a series of academic quality improvement initiatives that will strengthen the teaching and learning experience of faculty and students.

Even though the University has an Academic Quality Assurance Unit, which facilitates programmes aimed at providing competencies in teaching, assessment and evaluation of academic staff, the office lacks the capacity and resources to fully carry out its mandate. With the increase in the application of technology-based teaching, faculty need to be abreast with the latest modern methods of teaching and learning.