Foreign HAN-master great success
The HAN is working hard on the international way. Never before did so many foreign students walk through the HAN and also Dutch Students have spread themselves on the seven continents. Not everybody knows that the HAN takes care of educational programmes abroad. This way, 28 Ghanaians received an official HAN-master, in Construction Project Management. Ger Kitzen, who coordinated the project from the HAN, was left with a great feeling: ‘An adventure which tastes like more!’
Master in Ghana
It is not a combination that really makes sense, the HAN and Ghana, but therefore not less successful. Of the 29 Ghanaians, 28 received their Master. Only one participant failed. ‘This is a great result’, Kitzen thinks. ‘Certainly because it was the first time for us that we took care of a master in Ghana.’
Retrain
Five years ago Kitzen was asked by the Hanzehogeschool to participate in another Ghana-project, the project of the ministry of Development Co-operation. ‘Ghana is steady and developing. The infrastructure of the country is under pressure by the economical growth. There is grave need of good engineers,’ Kitzen says.
|One of the conditions to the project was the teachers of Polytechnics were retrained to the master level. ‘One year later four Ghanaian teachers with the bachelor status came to Arnhem to do a master in Construction Project Management. They all finished the master with good results. This attended to the contacts between Ghana and the HAN,’ Kirzen says.
No return
It worked out so well that in 2008 the Polytechnics from Takoradi and Kumasi request to provide the same master in Ghana. ‘They wanted to keep their teachers in Ghana, so that they still teach. And they also want to avoid the risk that people don’t return after a study abroad.’, Kirzen explains. ‘It was mentioned to be a two-year-project, but because of the the ending of our accreditation within one year, we had to fill it all in in one year.
Last year the 29 Ghanaians began with their master. After eight modules and writing a thesis the exams followed last month, which went very well. ‘Six students graduated with distinction.’ Kitzen experienced cooperating with the Ghanaians as very positive. ‘They were very dedicated and showed much effort. It is just a nice people.’ And many differences with the Dutch students? ‘I was a bit surprised when all final papers were collected a long time before the deadline. In Holland the greater part is collected on the day of the deadline, and some much later.’ Because of the success of this master, the master in Telecommunication Management is executed in Ghana at the moment, by colleague Bram Steennis.
Will there be a sequel in masters in Construction Project Management? ‘For the present not, but things can change,’ Kitzen decides. ‘It was an adventure tasting like more.’
By Sander Arink
translation: Marijn Hondorp
