The intention of the Government of Ghana to develop sufficient Human Resources for the country’s railways subsector has seen a major boost with the matriculation of the first batch of students for the Ghana School of Railways and Infrastructure Development.

The University of Mines and Technology (UMaT) which operates the Ghana School of Railways and Infrastructure Development, held the matriculation recently.

UMaT opened the Ghana School of Railways and Infrastructure Development Campus at Essikado in Sekondi-Takoradi in the Western Region this year.

About 300 students have been admitted into the Ghana School of Railways and Infrastructure Development for this year. Over the next four years, the School is looking to admit about 5,000 students.

It would be recalled that one of the most serious shortcomings of the railways' sector that was identified by the Ghanaian Government in 2017 was the inadequate human resource base.

The Ghanaian Government at the time through the Ministry of Railways Development then headed by Hon. Joe Ghartey was seeking to build a multi-billion dollar railway sector with a scarcity of human resource expertise in the sector.

Hon. Ghartey, the former Minister for Railways Development, and his team took the bold step to address the human resource deficit in the railway sector in the country.

This led to the collaboration with the University of Mines and Technology to establish the Ghana School of Railways and Infrastructural Development in Essikado Sekondi.

In 2021, the school is starting with general engineering programs.

In the next academic year, the school is expected to introduce new courses such as BSc Transportation Engineering;
BSC. Railways Engineering; Certificate programmes in Locomotive Engineering; Signalling and Telecommunication Systems; Rail Operation and Geotechnical Engineering.

The opening of the Ghana School of Railways and Infrastructure Development made possible by Hon. Ghartey and his team after dilapidated buildings not fit for human use were turned to modern state-of-the-art structures, shows that there is the need for Ghanaians as a people to think outside the box and have the vision to be able to make what seems impossible possible.

It took four years 2017-2021 to create a tertiary institution that would develop the human resource base for the growing railway sector.

The Dean of the Ghana School of Railways and Infrastructure Development is Professor Yakubu.

The creation of the school was made possible also through collaboration with the University of Mines and Technology.

Vice-Chancellor of UMaT, Prof. Richard Kwasi Amankwah, speaking during the matriculation, observed that his outfit was poised to extend quality education to everyone.