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A four-member delegation from the Open University of Malaysia (OUM) on Wednesday called on the Minister of Communications, Mr. Haruna Iddrisu, to announce the formal launch and commencement of the University�s programmes in Ghana. The head of the delegation, Professor Emeritus Tan Sri Anuwar Ali, in the company of Professor Clement K. Dzidonu, President of the Accra Institute of Technology (AIT), told the Communications Minister that the launch would be held at the campus of AIT in Accra on Friday January 22, to enable the start of the academic programmes this semester, targeting students from Ghana and other African countries. The AIT would be delivering the Open University programme that would allow students to undergo both undergraduate and post-graduate programmes online with OUM awarding the degrees. Mr Iddrisu welcomed the programme and said it would enable workers, particularly teachers, to further their education without leaving their workplace and classrooms, while at the same time sharpen their competences and skills. �It is encouraging that in support of the agenda of the government of Ghana to develop the capacity of the citizenry in the era of ICT, the Open University of Malaysia in collaboration with AIT is offering degree programmes as well as research programmes tailored to the needs of Ghana,� he noted. The Minister further expressed the hope that the initiative would pave the way for the development of the national policy on open learning by the Ministry of Education. Mr Iddrisu said that the Communications Ministry on its part, was facilitating the development of broadband connectivity to support the private sector to extend solutions to homes and schools to facilitate learning on line. He urged all civil and public servants to take advantage of the facility of open learning to develop their core competences but asked the authorities to make �cost of course delivery affordable so that many more Ghanaians could enrol�. Prof Dzidonu explained that the AIT would be offering undergraduate degree programmes including Computer Science, Information Technology, Business Administration, Education and Managements among others as well as postgraduate degree programmes like Masters and PhD in Engineering, Computer Science, Business Administration and Science and Education. He said with more qualified applicants not gaining admission to universities in this era that university education was becoming key entry into job market, the Open University concept was the way to go if Ghana was to drastically improve university enrolment and broaden access to tertiary education to the Ghanaian public. Prof. Dzidonu said AIT had secured the necessary approvals with the National Accreditation Board to offer the OUM programmes stipulated under a partnership agreement in the form of a memorandum of understanding signed between OUM and AIT last year. The OUM was set up by 11 Malaysian public universities and is the largest of the Malaysian universities with a student population of over 80,000 and the concept has revolutionized tertiary education in a number of countries of the world. Prof. Ali was hopeful that the partnership would further boost the long standing Ghana-Malaysia relations.