Tomas Bata University in Zlín has achieved enormous success regarding the assessment of its international activities by the Czech National Agency for International Cooperation, co-financed by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, which focuses on international cooperation in education and supports the involvement of individuals and institutions in international activities.
In the competition for STUDY IN award organized annually and conferred in the area of internationalization, TBU succeeded in both categories announced, namely for the best international graduate and the best accomplishment in the area of internationalization.
In the category focused on the best international graduates from Czech higher education institutions, Mr. Emmanuel Selase Asamoah from Ghana, who completed a doctoral programme at the Faculty of Management and Economics of TBU in Zlín, made it to the top six. “Emmanuel grew up in difficult environments,” describes Ing. Michaela Blahová, Ph.D., TBU Vice-Rector for Internationalization. “His mother died when he was twelve, and his father did not care for the orphaned children. Studies in Ghana were thus very difficult for him. He had to find a job and earn some extra money by providing remedial classes in order to pay the tuition fees at the secondary school and at the university,” added Michaela Blahová.
After he got a degree in psychology and sociology at the University of Ghana in 2006, he decided to go abroad to continue studies and to broaden his horizons. His dream was to become a university teacher as he aimed to help young people and to motivate them for studies. After completing his doctoral studies at TBU under the guidance of his supervisor Assoc. Prof. Miloslava Chovancová, he decided to go back to Ghana, where he is employed at the University of Professional Studies in Accra at the present time. Besides activities connected with his profession, he worked as a consultant to the UNO in the sphere of investment opportunities in Ghana and is also a mentor to and legal representative of disadvantaged children and women in Ghana.
The project entitled “Microsites of TBU in Zlín to Support Internationalization Activities” was selected as one of six best projects nominated for this award and chosen from among tens of applications submitted by higher education institutions from the entire Czech Republic. The project made it to the final round.
“TBU International Office has been focusing on digitization of processes and appropriate online communication with all its stakeholders in the long-term. The output of these efforts is, among other activities, the so-called microsites. The following microsites were included in the project: xchange.utb.cz; apply.utb.cz; international.utb.cz and summerschools.utb.cz ,” added Mgr. Pavel Býček, Head of International Office.
Both successful nominations made it to the final round of the competition, whose results are to be announced in early December 2020. At the same time, they will be presented in a joint publication of successful 2020 international education projects and within other marketing activities throughout the Czech Republic.
The University has won the award in the sphere of internationalization conferred by the Czech National Agency for International Cooperation in two successive years. According to Vice-Rector Michaela Blahová, “In 2019, Bata Centre located on the premises of Ton Duc Thang University in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam ranked among the top projects. The Centre supports and creates opportunities for applicants from Vietnam who want to study at Czech higher education institutions, and encourages scientific cooperation between Czech and Vietnamese research institutions, particularly universities.”
