Starts: Annually in August
Duration: 21-23 months
Locations: Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technoloy, Kumasi, Ghana and UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education, Delft, the Netherlands

Upon successful completion of this programme, the participant will receive two degrees: the KNUST’s MSc degree in Water Supply and Environmental Sanitation, and UNESCO-IHE’s MSc degree in Municipal Water and Infrastructure specializing in Water Supply Engineering.

Context

The need for adequate water supply and provision of environmental sanitation cannot be overemphasized, as they are directly associated with good public health. As governments of developing countries strive to improve the health of their people, issues related to the water supply and environmental sanitation sector have been gaining their attention in the past few decades.

The development of the sector is dependent on building the capacity of human resources, attaining general public health and meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Thus the educating and training professionals within the sector have become a focal theme of high quality academic institutions.

Prospective Students

The target group for the Water Supply and Environmental Sanitation programme is mid-career professionals from either water supply organizations or sanitation delivery organizations in Ghana and other African countries working with urban and rural water utilities, consulting firms, manufacturing and mining industries, municipal and district assemblies, ministerial departments, research institutes, tertiary institutions, and NGOs.

Candidates with a bachelor’s degree preferably in civil engineering, sanitary engineering, chemical engineering, hydraulic engineering, environmental engineering, geological engineering, agricultural engineering or related fields are eligible to apply. Candidates with a 1st or 2nd class upper division degree without work experience, may also be considered for admission.

For candidates with a second class lower degree, some years of work experience after graduation will be required. All applications are, however, considered on their individual merits.

Since instruction and examinations are given in English, it is essential that participants have a good working knowledge of the language. If there is any doubt about a candidate’s proficiency in English, he or she will be required to take one of the internationally recognised language tests before confirmation of admittance.

Admission Procedure

Interested persons apply for academic admission with UNESCO-IHE. More information on the application procedure, including the necessary forms, can be found on http://www.unesco-ihe.org/application. UNESCO-IHE will coordinate with KNUST on admissions, and academically admitted candidates will receive a provisional admission letter with cost indication from UNESCO-IHE.

The candidate can then look for sponsorship, information on fellowships is on www.unesco-ihe.org/fellowships. After confirmation of funding UNESCO-IHE will inform KNUST and the candidate will then go through the KNUST formal admission process.

DEADLINE for application and confirmation of funding: 1st July

Learning Objectives

The Water Supply and Environmental Sanitation (WSES) programme aims at training mid-career professional with diverse backgrounds from Ghana and other African countries, enabling them to play essential roles in government institutions and the private sector for sustained water supply or sanitation delivery.

After successful completion of the programme, the students be able to apply their professional knowledge in the wider social, economic and environmental contexts of urban and rural WSES with special focus on problems in Africa, and contribute to the development of innovative approaches to the provision of sustainable and equitable WSES services in developing countries and countries in transition.

Programme structure and contents

The added values of the Double Degree MSc programme are that the participants have:

• better exposure to the latest technologies applied in the Netherlands and other European countries;
• opportunities to interact with a large international community of colleagues from all over the world
• the opportunity to develop a wider scope of computer modelling techniques;
• more opportunities to excel in the field of WSES.

The total duration of the programme is 20 months including break, planned between the taught part at KNUST and that at UNESCO-IHE. The break planned in February would be used to prepare the logistics for the trip to the Netherlands by end of February.

The first part of the programme, conducted at KNUST, is planned with compulsory curriculum consisting of the subjects of modules 1 to 5. In the second part, consist of modules 6 to 11 and are conducted at UNESCO-IHE.

Subjects at KNUST (August – January)

• Introduction to Environmental Sanitation
• Mathematical and research methods
• Environmental science and process technology
• Environmental quality
• Water supply

Subjects at UNESCO-IHE

• Groundwater Treatment and Resources
• Water Transport and Distribution
• Advanced Water Treatment and Reuse
• International Fieldtrip
• Electives (2)
• Group work

Depending on the nature of the scholarship and/or research topic, students may continue with their thesis proposal and research at UNESCO-IHE, or return to KNUST.

Students of the Water Supply and Environmental Sanitation programme can also choose to follow the Sanitary Engineering track - focusing on wastewater collection, treatment, disposal and reuse.