GBARNGA, Bong – In a bid to strengthen academic excellence and promote cultural ties, the Bong County Technical College and Cuttington University have signed an agreement linking the two institutions.

The three-year Institutional Linkage Agreement allows Cuttington to consider nominated students from the departments of Agricultural Technology and Health Sciences at the Bong County Technical College to have access to the Colleges of Agriculture and Allied Health Sciences at the Cuttington University.

Students from BCTC will conduct laboratory, field and clinical practical skills training at Cuttington, while some faculty members of Cuttington will occasionally commute to BCTC to offer instructional services, according to the agreement.

“BCTC students will be granted full student status at CU and will be granted the same access as other undergraduates to the facilities of CU,” the agreement read.

BCTC’s acting president, Charles Mulbah, told students at the signing ceremony on Monday in Gbarnga that the move is intended to strengthen and prepare them professionally for the future.

“You are in our hearts; our job is to help and make sure that you have the kind of tools you need to survive in life,” Mulbah said. He continued: “And this is just the beginning, there are other areas where we will probably be working with other institutions to try to accelerate your achievements.”

He expressed gratitude to Cuttington University for the opportunity to forge a partnership that would help to prepare the students for their professional careers.

Mulbah encouraged students of BCTC to be respectful and make maximum use of the opportunity Cuttington has provided them in their learning process.

Cuttington’s president, Herman Browne, said the agreement with BCTC signifies “Cuttington’s commitment to share its expertise” and not to isolate itself from the community it serves.

Browne said he is hopeful that BCTC, being an emerging technical institution of learning, would help Cuttington, a “liberal arts institution” to develop in its technical areas in the near future.

The president of Cuttington University, Herman Browne. Photo: Moses Bailey.

During the period of the program, the Bong County Technical College will pay Cuttington fees mutually agreed upon by the two institutions, including fees for clinical and laboratory training, the agreement said.

Browne and Mulbah signed for their respective institutions while the students witnessed.

The students generally seemed to appreciate the partnership between the two institutions.

Featured photo by Clarence Jackson