Parliament debates proposed University in Afram Plains

Accra, June 4, GNA - Members of Parliament on Wednesday debated the proposed establishment of the University of Environment and Sustainable Development in Afram Plains in the Eastern region, whose bill was first read in 2014.

Majority of members agreed to the proposed institution of higher learning, to address the nation's environmental challenges, and provide more human capacity for sustainable national development.

Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, Minister of Education, moved for the second reading and adoption of the Bill, which was adopted by a majority vote.

Former Majority Leader and Member of Parliament (MP) for Zebilla, Mr Cletus Apul Avoka, in a contribution called for support for the motion, to enable the Government’s promise to establish a public university in each of the 10 administrative regions in Ghana to be possible.

Mr Avoka observed the inability of many qualified students to enter into public universities for lack of adequate space, giving rise to the proliferation of private universities which attract higher fees and more patronage by foreigners.

“Members must support the Bill so that the university can take off by the end of the year,” Mr Avoka urged.

Prof Dominic Fobih, MP for Assin South, and a seasoned educationist, called for the right type of personnel to man the proposed university.

For Mr Emmanuel Kwasi Bedzrah, MP for Ho West, the establishment of the proposed university would care for the vast natural resources, and provide practical experiences in the areas of study.

Dr Mathew Opoku Prempeh, MP for Manhyia South, called for clearly defined courses, which the whole nation can support.

“Let’s expand the faculties, and not establish new ones (universities) that we cannot fund,” Dr Prempeh said.

Alhaji Amadu Seidu, MP for Yapei Kusawgu, stressed the need for the managers of education to look into the destruction of the environment, and design appropriate programmes with a holistic approach.

Dr Mark Assibey-Yeboah, MP for New Juaben South, was not happy with the location of the proposed university at the Afram Plains; and argued that it would be more cost-effective to locate the proposed university at Koforidua, the regional capital.

He was of the opinion that the main university should be in Koforidua, rather than Donkorkrom, which should be a satellite campus.

But Mr Mahama Ayariga, a former Deputy Minister in Charge of Tertiary Education, and Mr Mathias Puoza, Chairman of the Select Committee on Education, said universities everywhere whether young or old are still attracting cost, and the establishment of a new one would be less expensive.

Mr Ayariga supported the naming of the university to give it a thematic focus.

Mr Ignatius Baffour, Second Deputy Minority Chief Whip, called for care and adequate resourcing of the newly established universities so that they would not become what he called “glorified senior high schools.”

In another development, Mr. Kweku Rickets-Hagan, Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, was in the House to answer questions related to the Ministry.

His response to a question from Mr Robert Kwasi Mensah, MP for Achiase, that sought to know what the Ministry was doing to solve problems of marketing citrus fruits did not match what had been provided in the Order Paper.

When members sought to know why, he answered that he was adding “flavour” to his answer.

Mr Joe Ghartey, Second Deputy Speaker and MP for Esikado Ketan, who sat in the chair, agreed to a suggestion and directed that the Deputy Minister presented his prepared answer, while the one in the Order Paper be expunged.

Answering, the Deputy Minister said the main problem was the disease that affected the citrus fruits, and that the Ministry was in arrangement with the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission and a company in Austria to irradiate the fruits to make them marketable.

Source: GNA

UCC Certificates Not For Sale

The Vice Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast (UCC), Prof D.D Kuupole, says the university’s certificates are not for sale.

He has, therefore, warned unscrupulous persons colluding to forge UCC certificates for sale to unemployed persons to desist from the practice and advised employers both locally and abroad to do due diligence to seek the authenticity of these certificates before employing prospective applicants.

Prof. Kuupole was speaking at the sixth session of the 47th congregation of the Institute of Education and College of Distance Education (CODE) of the university, over the weekend.

It was a three-day session during which 10,080 graduates comprising 2,372 from the Institute of Education Studies and 7,708 from the CODE graduated.

He explained that the high demand for UCC graduates had caused some unscrupulous persons to continuously forge the certificates for prospective applicants seeking employment.

He said the university was also working to ensure the sanctity of its certificates, pointing out that, “The issue is a problem both in the country and abroad”.

He said it was obvious that there had been a significant increase in the number of students who successfully completed their programme of study.

Prof. Kuupole said the drop-out rate of students of the CODE had also gone down considerably while the general academic performance had improved considerably.

Distance Education

Prof. Kuupole said distance education had helped to increase, significantly, access to higher education.

He, however, advised beneficiaries of the distance education programme to help change the fortunes of particularly, the education sector, and all other sectors in the country where they found themselves, and not only use their certificates to secure higher salaries.

He stated that higher education for teachers in particular, must reflect in a remarkably improved performance in the nation’s educational standards, pointing out that in pursuit of integrating Information, Communications Technology (ICT) in distance learning in the university, the CODE had completed an e-learning platform for use for teaching and learning.

With the full activation of the platform, he said, students could hopefully register, pay fees and access their academic records online.

However, he said, there still remained the poor ICT infrastructure at the regional centres, pointing out that those challenges were being adequately addressed.

CODE Expansion

On expansion programmes, he stated that UCC through the CODE opened 12 new centres across the country.

He said the sod had also been cut for the construction of two three-storey learning centres in Wa in the Upper West Regionand Zuarungu in the Upper East Region this year.

He advised the graduands to work hard and be honest in all they do to impact positively on the lives of the people in their communities.

Sir Sam Jonah

In his address, Sir Sam Jonah, Chancellor of the university, noted that distance education was a sure way to acquire higher education and advised the graduands to make the best of the education they had acquired.

At an earlier session, the Minister of Education, Prof Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, in a speech read on her behalf, commended UCC for its efforts at digitise its teaching and learning.

Nana Sam Brew Butler, Chairman of the Governing Council of the university also urged the graduates to give back to help develop the university.


Source: Daily Graphic

UCC completes e-learning platform

The University of Cape Coast (UCC) has completed an e-learning platform for the College of Distance Education (CoDE), as part of efforts to integrate Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in distance learning.

With the full activation of the platform, it is expected that student registration, payment of fees, academic records and detailed results, will be easily accessible online to students of the distance programme of the university.

Prof. Domwini D. Kuupole, Vice Chancellor of UCC, announced this at the sixth session of the 47th Congregation of UCC held on Thursday, to graduate 4,008 students who completed various programmes of study at the Institute of Education and CoDE for the 2013/14 academic year.

The students were awarded Degrees and Diplomas in Basic Education, Psychology, and Foundational Studies.

Prof. Kuupole noted that the UCC was in talks with regional directors of education and other stakeholders, to smoothly integrate the graduates into the sector, and other deficient sectors, in efforts to make the distance education programme more relevant in the educational sector.

He, therefore, charged the graduands to be committed, and work hard to contribute their quota to the improvement of the educational sector.

Nana Brew Butler, Chairman of the UCC Council, advised the graduands not to be content with the Degrees and Diplomas awarded them, but rather climb higher the academic ladder.

In his valedictory address, the overall best graduand, Mr. Bernard Gyimah Antwi, admonished his colleagues to exhibit a high sense of excellence and quality in all their endeavours.

Source: GNA

KNUST inaugurates modern laboratory

A modern laboratory of international standards has been inaugurated at the University of Science and Technology (KNUST). The Central Laboratory, established with the objective of enhancing medical research in the university, was built at a cost of GH¢1.2m through a partnership between the university and the Champion Divine Clinic.


The building, housing the laboratory, has been named ‘Champion Divine Building’. It has a state of the art laboratory equipment for research in subject areas such as Pharmacy, Engineering, Biomedical Sciences and Chemistry.

In an address, read on behalf of the Minister of Education by the Executive Secretary of the National Council for Tertiary Education, Prof. Mahama Duwiejua, she lauded the efforts of the management of the university for their foresight and creativity and leading it to excellence in its activities.

She emphasised the need for collaboration with the scientific community in the country as a means of boosting research at the newly-established facility.

She hoped that the new laboratory would serve as a hub for the training of students of the university as well as those from other schools and organisations.

The Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Mr Mahama Ayariga, on his part, said the government recognised the efforts the University was making to bring about quality in its output.

He said the establishment of such a modern laboratory should lead to the enhancement of joint research projects between the university and other research institutions in the country and abroad.

He said since there was a great deal of value to be derived from research projects, researchers must collaborate on their works and come out with discoveries that would serve as sources for generating income.

The Vice-Chancellor of the KNUST, Prof. W. O. Ellis, said the construction of the laboratory was part of the university’s vision to upgrade its research laboratories to international standards in order to boost research and provide qualitative teaching.


Source: Written by John K. Essel, graphic.com.gh

UCC builds satellite campus in Upper East

Zuarungu (UE), May 15, GNA - The University of Cape Coast (UCC) has initiated a building project in the Upper East Region to serve as one of its satellite campuses.

The three-storey multipurpose building project located at Zuarungu near the Bolgatanga Municipality, when completed next year, would have lecture halls for both undergraduate and post-graduate students, with facilities such ICT, furnished library, Laboratories, toilet facilities, and lift, among others.

Speaking at the sod-cutting ceremony at Zuarungu, the Vice Chancellor of the University. Professor D.D. Kuupole, said the project was being funded from the University's Internally Generated Funds.

He said it was part of the University’s efforts at complementing governments to provide accessible, quality tertiary education, and expressed the hope that it would break the cycle of poverty and help accelerate the area's development.

The Vice Chancellor stated that one of the reasons that informed the University to establish the campus was not only to make education accessible to the people alone, to cut down the hectic time students went through by traveling for long distances in search of tertiary education which of often resulted in some losing their lives through accidents.

He commended the chiefs and people of Zuarungu for releasing such a vast land for the project, and Professor Emmanuel Abole, a lecturer of the University who is an indigene, for playing an instrumental role in the establishment of the project.

The Provost in charge of the College of Distance Education, Professor George Oduro, who kicked against the idea of Government winning Tertiary institutions from its subvention, stated that the decision was not necessary since most of the tertiary educational institutions were already doing a lot, and cited the number of Satellite Campuses the University had built, as examples.

The Deputy Upper East Regional Minister, Mr Daniel Syme, was full of praise to the Management of the University, and said it would play a major role in reducing poverty among people in the area, as well as bring a lot of development to the region.

The Deputy Minister entreated students from the region to take advantage of the facility, and said it would also help attract students from neighbouring countries, like Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Togo, Niger and Mali, which was closer to the Region.

The chiefs and people of Zuarungu expressed happiness about the project, and pledged to co-operate with the contractor to complete the project on time.

They announced that they had secured and mapped another area that could be used for a similar purpose, and invited other tertiary institutions which would want to widen their scope into the region, not to hesitate to contact them.


Source: Ghana News Agency

Public Universities Milk Applicants Dry

Public universities have sworn to make up for the decline in government subvention, and these days anything goes -- including charging exorbitantly for on-line application scratch-cards when most of the applicants do not even get admitted.

Today most of the applications are either done directly on-line or applicants are asked to download and print application forms at their own cost.

This notwithstanding, the cost of applying to universities in the country, including public ones, has been increasing at a rate that has alarmed many applicants and their families; particularly those with low incomes.

Many people wonder what is peculiar about Ghanaian universities that they have to charge so much as application fees, when most universities globally do not charge a dime for applications.

Ghanaian universities are yet to muster the courage to stop charging application fees even as they have moved away from selling application forms to on-line application platforms.

Currently, scratch-cards to apply on-line for undergraduate programmes at the various public universities go for close to GH¢200 for most of the public universities.

Considering that a good number of applicants apply to a number of universities at the same time, the cost becomes even higher.

“I applied to three universities -- that is KNUST, Legon and UPSA -- and my brother paid almost GH¢600 for that,” said nineteen-year-old Gideon Amartey who is anxiously waiting to go to university. “If I had the money, I would have applied to two others,”he said.

“The transition of application forms from manual to electronic should have lessened the cost, I do not see why it is rather so expensive these days, said Reeves Rhommenze Romeo, a student of one of the universities.

“If the form was hard-copy it is quite understandable (even that should not be expensive, honestly), but it’s electronic now and the price is even higher than when it was manual. I still don't understand; maybe there is a reason for that but for now I don't understand why the fee goes up when it is electronic,” he said.

According to NUGS’ representative on the National Youth Authority, Prince David Orchill, the situation may even compel some potential university goers to settle for the security agencies since they do not have to pay much there.

“We are not very happy with the increasing cost of these scratch-cards. It is not fair. Now they have made the cards so expensive that students spend all their money on registration formalities and are left with no money to pay their fees after they get admitted,” he said.

The universities have argued that in view of dwindling government subvention, they are having to rely on internally generated funds to keep them going.

In its Strategic Plan, spanning the years 2014 to 2024, the University of Ghana says, for example, that its funding sources have changed “significantly” in the last decade since government support has dropped from being more than 90% of its budget to just over 55%.

“The significance of internally generated funds, relying extensively on fees from students, will grow,” it said.


Source: Business & Financial Times

Public universities owe GH¢30 million in utility bills

Public universities in the country owe over 30 million Ghana Cedis in utility bills.

The University of Ghana owes GH¢14,936, 868 in electricity and GH¢2,585,232 in water bills. The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology owes GH¢9,368,487 in electricity and GH¢1,842,687 in water bills.

The University of Mines and Technology owes GH¢553,047 in electricity bills and GH¢160,456 in water bills, the university of education Winneba owes GH¢3,414,287 and GH¢1,300,604 while the University of Energy and Natural Resources owes GH¢880,135 in electricity and GH¢200,471 in water.

The figures did not include that of the University of Cape Coast, the University of Development Studies and the University of Health and Allied Science and the University of Professional Studies, Accra.

The figure does not include bills of other tertiary institutions and the senior high schools.

Speaking at a public lecture at the University of Cape Coast Wednesday, the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Mr Seth Terkper said government was ready to disclose the true state of the nation to Ghanaians.

He was speaking on the topic “Challenges and Experiences of Managing the Economy of Ghana.”

Mr Seth Terpker, an alumnus of UCC suggested more efficient ways of using utilities, reiterating the need for the adoption of pre-paid electricity meters for use on the campuses.

He said there was the need to be more efficient and to check illegal use of electricity and also consider moving from the use of conventional electricity to biogas and solar.

He noted that “if we do not make these corrections, we would continue to have a legacy of subsidies which has often brought the nation to its knees.”

He indicated that though government was obliged to pay, the dispute was whether or not government could continue to pay the huge cost. He failed to comment on whether or not students would eventually be required to pay for utilities.

Mr Terpker further called for a concerted effort to put in a lot of gas infrastructure to augment electricity supply.

He said the World Bank had confirmed that Ghana’s growth was going to increase significantly in 2017 saying those gains must be consolidated.

He said despite the up and down swing and the challenges facing the country’s economy it was important to note that the country had made positive economic growth in the last 30 years.


- By Shirley Asiedu Addo, Graphic.com.gh

UEW Council pleads for increased financial support

Kumasi, May 4, GNA - The Chairman of the Governing Council of the University of Education, Winneba (UEW), Dr Emmanuel Kenneth Andoh, has called for increased financial support to aid the expansion of infrastructure for the training of more top class professional educators.

He said inadequate funding was making it difficult to meet the demands on its services by the growing student enrollment.

Dr Andoh was addressing the 19th Congregation of the College of Technology Education of the university in Kumasi.

A total of 3,847 students received Masters and Bachelors’ degrees and Diploma certificates in Business, Technology and other programmes offered at the college.

Two hundred and thirty three students who pursued Diploma in Education programme at the Cape Coast Polytechnic, under a collaborative programme between the university and the polytechnic, also graduated.

Dr Andoh said the College of Technology Education had been transformed into a premier institution for training of professionals in technology education and related fields in the West African sub-region.

The increasing number of graduates’ year-after-year was indicative of its commitment to excellence and continued growth, he said.

He, however, pointed out that the rise in student admission and technical programmes would have to be matched with appropriate financial and material support.

Dr Andoh advised the graduating students to be humble, honest and exhibit high sense of integrity which, he said, were essential in the teaching profession.

Professor Akwasi Asabere-Ameyaw, the Vice Chancellor, advised the students to be hard working and to develop right attitudes at the workplace.

He said the university would continue to explore opportunities through innovative ways to equip its students with the right skills to tackle the challenges facing the society.


Source: Ghana News Agency

African Universities urged to adopt ‘tripartite mission concept’

Cape Coast, May 1, GNA - Emeritus Professor Pai Obanya of the Institute of Education, University of Ibadan, Nigeria, has said for African Universities to achieve academic excellence to meet global demand, they must adopt the ‘tripartite mission concept.’

He said academic excellence tripod could be achieved through the emerging paradigm of the triple mission of knowledge; knowledge generation, knowledge transmission and knowledge sharing.

Speaking at a public lecture at the University of Cape Coast on the theme: “Exploring the Academic Excellence Tripod,” Prof. Obanya tasked African universities to also develop both implicit and explicit curricula for a wider array of possibilities to effect total knowledge in teaching and learning.

The lecture organised by the College of Education Studies was attended by students and a cross-section of the academia.

The Emeritus Professor said institutions of higher learning needed to entrench academic excellence through multi-dimensional approach; based on systematic, continuous and career-long education.

The Tripartite Mission of Universities was a concept that sought to clarify what African universities should exist for, and the development-oriented tasks they must pursue, as they struggled to fit into the global league of fountains of knowledge, while at the same time being service-intensive to their local environment.

Looking critically at the mission of tertiary education in this contemporary time, Prof Obanya, who is the immediate past Chairman of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), said universities must incorporate this strategy to enhance their relevance, and produce high-level manpower that could not solve societal challenges.

The ace academician, known as the ‘Grand Sage of Education in Africa,’ further implored the universities to use the consummate researcher functions in a participatory manner, involving the researcher and the researched to address the needs of society.

Prof Obanya opined that universities had been employing individualistic research methodologies, especially in asking students to select research topics on their own without recourse to societal needs.

In his view, this was wrong because according to him, the universities must use strategic institutional agenda to engage and research into the immediate needs of the communities in which they were located and the society at large.

He bemoaned that in our part of the world people equated total learning to success in examination, saying “learning goes beyond mere success in examination.”

“Successful learning is a lot more than exam success, and this involves incorporating life-long and life-wide skills to ensure total learning,” he observed.

Professor Obanya said Africans, though observed culture that much, it should not be a barrier to new learning and thinking outside the box.

Culture, he indicated, was dynamic, and urged both teachers and students to endeavor to break certain cultural and traditional myths to improve research procedures.

He called for creativity among the university fraternity through what he called 'transformational pedagogy’ for effective teaching and learning.

This, Professor Obanya said, must involve the application of both physical and mental activities to improve interest in continuous learning, adding that “For learning to be effective, teachers must employ activity-based methods.”

One critical area that teachers needed to address further was the psycho-social needs of students, and not consider them as mere statistics.

According to him, students had so many personal and social problems which sometimes took their conscience off their academic work, and therefore urged teachers to have the interest of students at heart to help promote effective teaching and learning.

Prof Joseph Ghartey Ampiah, Acting Provost of the College of Education Studies of the University of Cape Coast, who chaired the function, was full of praise for the guest speaker, and urged him to constantly visit the university to share his vast educational expertise with Ghana.

He challenged both teachers and students to imbibe and inculcate the triple mission of knowledge in their academic pursuit, to influence society positively.


Source: Ghana News Agency

Africa needs intellectual independence - Professor Olufemi Bamiro

Cape Coast, April 30, GNA - Professor Olufemi Bamiro, Pro-chancellor and Chairman of Council at Tai Solarian University of Education, Nigeria, says Africa need to be intellectually independent to be able to address its numerous challenges.

He said it is time African universities become proactive, well-researched and community services oriented while maintaining core African values to gain a more respectable position in the academic world.

Prof Bamiro said though education had its roots in Africa, Africans are always relying on the Western world to find solutions and answers to problems which are purely African.

“Almost all the big universities in the world now, the people behind them are all Africans or are of African origin, so why must we always run to the West to have our issues solved while our problems are African? It is time we become intellectually independent to be able to find African solutions to the African problems,” he said.

Prof Bamiro was speaking at the opening ceremony of the first interdisciplinary conference organized by the Institute for Educational Planning and Administration in collaboration with Ghana Association of Educational Planners and Administrators and Tai Solarian University of Education, Nigeria, at the University of Cape Coast (UCC).

The four-day conference which is on the theme: “Education as a tool for global development,” is aimed at having an in-depth discussion and of exchange ideas as the participants seek answers from the research perspective.

Prof Bamiro said there is the need to ensure that lecturers are adequately resourced with research logistics and scientific materials since staff quality is a major driver of the change.

He said the polytechnics and the technical universities must be strengthened to produce competent human resource to ensure the sustainability of African industries, adding that sustainable development of industries is a key indicator to modern development.

He said the brain-drain from Africa is major setbacks to development as majority of African graduates who are expected to use the knowledge acquire to help their countries, travel outside for greener pastures.

The Vice Chancellor of UCC, Prof Domwini Kuupole said the conference is as a result of the memorandum of understanding between UCC and the Tai Solarian University of Education in Nigeria to engage in activities that is mutually beneficial.

He said it is a clear demonstration of regional cooperation and expressed the hope that the scholarly discourse would inform the decisions of educational administrators in the sub region.


Source: Ghana News Agency

Colleges partner KNUST to raise academic standards

The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with two institutions in Kumasi, to spearhead the nation’s development in the area of technology transfer.

Professor William Otoo Ellis, the Vice-Chancellor, said the MoU would evolve appropriate technologies and programmes that meet the demands of industries, corporate institutions, small and medium scale enterprises, as well as the manufacturing sector for sustainable economic growth.

Technology, he said, defines development of any society as it is the basis to alleviate poverty, create wealth and also bring about change to improve the living conditions of the people.

The two institutions are Princefield College in the Volta Region, and Fountainhead Christian College in the Greater Accra Region.

They are seeking affiliation to award degrees in the areas of Accounting, Banking and Finance, Marketing, Communications Technology and Applied Theology and Leadership.

This brings to more than 30, institutions which had so far signed agreements to be affiliated with the KNUST.

Prof Ellis urged the two institutions to strive to attend meetings of the KNUST’s Liaison Committee, which serves as a platform to mentor and nurture affiliate universities.

He reminded them to maintain high academic standards, saying the University would not countenance mediocrity in the admission, academic programmes and examination processes of the two institutions.

Prof Ellis signed for the KNUST, while Dr Alex Nazzar initialled for Princefield College with the Reverend Faithful Biney signing for Fountainhead Christian College.


Source: Ghana News Agency

Court dismisses case against University of Ghana

The Human Rights Court has dismissed the case against the University of Ghana over the closure of some of the access routes to the school.

Some parents of pupils at the University of Ghana Primary School sued the University over the decision to close all access routes into the school.

According to ruling given by Justice Essel Mensah, the suit was not properly brought before the court by the applicants for it to be adjudicated upon it merits hence his decision.

The University of Ghana last year closed all access routes into its campus to the public with the exception of the entrance from the Okponglo intersection, a decision which did not go down well with parents, who subsequently sought a perpetual injunction against the university from continuing with the ongoing restrictions.


Background

The University of Ghana closed all access routes into its campus to the public with the exception of the entrance from the Okponglo intersection.

The closure was announced after the school was forced to suspend its tolling system which generated public outcry leading to the destruction of one of its toll booth by national security operatives.

Subsequently, only vehicles with the 2014 UG sticker were allowed to enter and exit the school through all the access routes.

Some 130 parents whose wards attend the basic school sued the University over the matter.

The parents sought a perpetual injunction against the university from continuing with the ongoing restrictions.


– By: Fred Djabanor/citimonline.com/Ghana

45,000 extra teachers needed to effect universal basic education - Professor Jophus Anamuah-Mensah

About 45,000 extra teachers are needed to provide universal basic education in the country, a former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Education, Winneba (UEW), Professor Jophus Anamuah-Mensah, has said.


He was addressing the first annual Easter Forum on the theme: “Distance Education: Our hope for sustainable human capacity development in Ghana”, at the University of Cape Coast (UCC) yesterday.

Currently, he said, there were 260,000 basic school teachers, half of which were untrained.

Statistics show that most untrained teachers are found at the kindergarten and the primary levels, where 72.4 per cent of the 42,128 teachers have no training.

At the primary level, this falls to 50.5 per cent of 126,596 teachers, and drops again to 37 per cent of the 90,687 teachers at the junior high school level.

Prof Anamuah-Mensah said basic education in the country faced a serious problem, with about 800,000 children of school age currently out of school.


Tertiary education

At the tertiary level of education, he said, traditional approaches to learning were inadequate to overcome the challenge and, therefore, advocated distance education as a panacea to propel access to education.

“The key to rectifying the teacher shortfall in Ghana, though, is not through conventional teacher training but rather the rise of distance education, which has and will continue to be critical because the demand for teachers is so huge,” he said.


Lack of co-ordination

Prof Anamuah-Mensah, however, bemoaned the un-coordinated nature of distance education in the country, noting that more than 10 years after distance education was introduced, it was yet to be properly co-ordinated.

The Vice-Chancellor of the UCC, Prof. D.D. Kuupole, stressed the urgent need for collaboration among tertiary institutions to provide quality education, adding, “We need to have a guiding principle on where we are going.”

“So many of us have been left out; we need to strategise and bring everybody on board,” he stressed.

In a speech read on his behalf, the Director-General of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC), Major Albert Don-Chebe (retd), said only about 68,000 people procured university degrees in Ghana a year, saying that was woefully inadequate for human resource development in the country.

He pledged the corporation’s commitment to partner the UCC to provide quality education for Ghanaians.


Source: Timothy Gobah, graphic.com.gh

Tertiary education should not be elitist - Professor Josephus Anamuah-Mensah

Cape Coast, April 30, GNA - Professor Josephus Anamuah-Mensah, former Vice Chancellor of the University of Education, Winneba, says the efforts to raise Ghana unto a higher middle income status would be unrealistic if access to tertiary education remains elitist.

He said currently access to tertiary education as measured by the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) is 12 per cent which means that a large number of talents lie dormant and uncultivated to contribute to the country’s prosperity.

He said there is the need to increase the existing percentage to about 30 per cent to be able to move the nation beyond the lower middle-income status.

“There is a higher education demand surge but many Ghanaians are deprived of tertiary education, only 12 per cent of post-secondary school graduates get access to the university. We are struggling to move beyond the lower middle-income but the figure is too low for a higher middle-income status,” he said.

Prof Anamuah-Mensah said this when he delivered the keynote address at the maiden annual Easter forum organised by the College of Distance Education (CoDE) of the University of Cape Coast (UCC).

The forum, which was on the theme: “Distance education: Our hope for a sustained human capacity development in Ghana,” was aimed at addressing the issues concerning distance education.

He said the role of higher education especially for African countries cannot be taken lightly and urged Ghanaians not to view tertiary education as something for the elites alone.

Distance education is the best alternative to addressing the problem of limited access to tertiary education as it offers the working populace the opportunity to improve upon their knowledge in the work place, Prof Anamuah-Mensah said.

He said with 49.3 per cent of the total number of teachers at the basic school level being untrained, distance education would obviously be the recommended option for them if they want to go to school while they remain in the classrooms.

The former Vice-Chancellor urged the organisers of distance education programmes to put in place employable skills courses that are work-based and expand its scope to introduce technical and vocational programmes.

Professor D. D Kuupole, Vice Chancellor of UCC, said distance education since its inception in 1994, has become embedded in the country’s educational sector and called on all to embrace it.

He said distance education makes higher education flexible and offer a larger number of people the opportunity to enrol in any programme.

He said the discussions, sharing of ideas and innovations that may come up during the forum would go a long way to make advancement in the distance learning programs.

Heads of training colleges, education administrators, teachers, university dons and the Director of CoDE, Prof, George Oduro were present at the one-day forum.



Source: Ghana News Agency

University of Education, Winneba (UEW) Launches Corporate Strategic Plan

Winneba, April 27, GNA - The University of Education, Winneba (UEW), has launched its Third Strategic Plan for the years 2014 to 2018, with a call on staff to work hard towards its success.

The Vice-Chancellor of the University, Professor Akwasi Asabere-Ameyaw, speaking at the launch, said two earlier Strategic Plans, namely the 2003-2008 and the 2009-2013, were the primary management tools that had brought the University that far.

He said the first strategic plan aimed to expand the University at a very fast pace, after attaining autonomy.

He said the University adopted ICT as a tool for teaching and learning, and embarked on vigorous measures to address the serious gender imbalance among students.

Prof Asabere-Ameyaw said the University had, therefore, seen remarkable transformation and improvement in infrastructure, curriculum development, staffing, student enrollments, and expansion in graduate studies, among other achievements.

The chairman of the University's Governing Council, Dr. Emmanuel K. Andoh, said the new strategic plan was an attestation to efforts towards achieving the very purpose for which the institution of higher learning was established.

He stated: “We are still mindful of our vision as a Teacher Training University, tasked with the sole responsibility to spearhead the new national vision of education, aimed at re-directing Ghana’s efforts along the path of rapid economic and social development.”

Prof Mahama Duwiejua, Executive Secretary of the National Council for Tertiary Education, who launched the Plan, hoped that the 2014-18 Corporate Strategic Plan would serve as the blue-print to further build on the remarkable achievements the University had already accomplished.

He called for the judicious application of human and financial resources, to achieve set strategic goals.


Source: Ghana News Agency

University of Ghana acquires software to detect plagiarism

The University of Ghana has deployed software under its current e-Learning platform that detects plagiarism in all forms, from class assignments to project works and other academic work.

The software which is part of the university’s e-Learning management system called Sakai is aimed at enhancing original thought among students and promoting excellent academic work.

The Dean of Distance Learning of the University of Ghana, Legon, Prof. Yaw Oheneba Sekyi, who disclosed this to the media after the 2015 matriculation at the Kumasi Learning Centre, said all the distance learning campuses of the school had been connected through a fibre optic to the main campus at Legon in Accra.

He said the students had also been offered android-based tablets which were web-based and allowed students to access course materials electronically and submit assignments as well as interact among themselves on the same platform.
Vice Chancellor

In a speech read on his behalf, the Vice- Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Prof. Ernest Aryeetey, announced that the university recently through the government secured a $37.5 million ICT project for its distance education programme.

He said under the project, the Accra, Koforidua, Sunyani, Takoradi, Tamale, Tsito and Wa learning centres have been equipped with modern facilities with ultra-modern computer laboratories and smart classrooms.

The rest are video conference facilities, backup generating sets and outdoor Wi-Fi, while 3,000 Internet-enabled android tablets, preloaded with relevant teaching and learning materials have been distributed to students.

In all, 1,184 students were enrolled for the 2014/2015 academic year.

Prof. Aryeetey said students admitted for Distance Education this year would have all tutorials and examinations in their centres, without having to come down to Legon as had been the practice.


Source: By Donald Ato Dapatem, Graphic.com.gh

Formation of KNUST NPP Frontliners does not offend rules — KNUST Authorities

Authorities of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) have stated that the formation of the KNUST New Patriotic Party (NPP) Frontliners does not offend any rules and regulations of the university.

While the National Democratic Congress (NDC) believes it would affect academic work and politically polarise the entire university, the NPP describes it as an age-old practice and cites the likes of former, Dr Josiah Aryeh, who was a lecturer at the University of Ghana, Legon when he worked as the NDC General Secretary.

But speaking to the Daily Graphic, the Deputy Registrar of University Relations of KNUST, Mr Vincent Ankamah-Lomotey, allayed the fears of the students who are NDC and all others on campus who are apprehensive that they might be victimised by these lecturers.


Background

Last Sunday, some lecturers and academicians from the KNUST, known as KNUST NPP Frontliners, called on Ghanaians to rise up and support the opposition NPP to win the 2016 Elections.

According to the group, which was made up of senior members and senior staff members of the university, the NPP remained the better alternative to the corrupt and visionless NDC whose governance had crippled the sensitive centres of the economy and brought untold hardships on the ordinary Ghanaian.

At the inauguration of the group, Dr Kwabena Boadu, the leader of the group, explained that the aim of the group was to serve as a think tank, ready to serve the party to win power in 2016 and beyond and with the vision, to be recognised as an elite group of supporters to influence policy direction as well as serve as an interface between the party and the electorate in explaining party policies and canvassing for votes.


No fears
Reacting to concerns by some members of the Tertiary Education Institutions Network (TEIN) of the NDC about possible victimisation, Mr Ankamah-Lomotey said, “I don’t agree with them because these are intellectuals who would not engage in such things.”


NDC

The Public Relations Officer of the KNUST NDC TEIN, Mr Prince Nyarko, told the Daily Graphic, “We are not perturbed the least about the formation of this group” but they were worried it would open the floodgates for others to form similar groups on campus.

A situation which, he explained, could lead to the proliferation of parallel entities on campus and if care was not taken, even the Vice Chancellor and other heads of departments would join the fray, leading to political polarisation of academic work on campus.

Mr Nyarko stated that his basis for fear of ill-treatment was born out of the fact that the group had been formed to specifically garner support and votes for the opposition NPP and wondered how these would play out in classes that were full of known NDC activists.

He explained that although both the TEIN of the NDC and the Tertiary Students Confederacy (TESCON) of the NPP on campus had patrons who were lecturers, such patrons did not openly expose their known political colours on campus.

- By Donald Ato Dapatem, Graphic.com.gh

Lecturers at the University of Education Winneba Go Wild

Lecturers at the University of Education Winneba have accused authorities of treating administrators kingly and are thus demanding to use a newly built office complex which has been marked as the registry. According to the lecturers, their accusation stems from the fact that most of them have, for the past 20 years not sat in an office, yet a newly completed office complex (Teku Block 2), built in their name to resolve their long standing office difficulty had been allocated to administrators. “Meanwhile, there is no shred of evidence that administrators lack offices. Even people employed recently have one”, the lecturers lamented. It was noted that one had to attain the position of a Dean or Head a Department to have an office- a situation they indicated destructed their work. Aside the handful that had offices, the lecturers revealed that some of them pass through lecture halls to access their office, and that, “Student desks block the entrances; thereby trapping the lecturer in that tiny office till the 3-hour lecture was over. Imagine if you need to use the wash room”. As a result, many have had to resort to using the shades of trees and the trunk of their cars as offices. In addition to the inadequacy of offices, there is a salary impasse between lecturers and administrators of which lecturers have expressed worry. The lecturers also took government to task on the books and research allowance administrators received and alleged it was only lecturers that do research for promotions. In an exclusive interview with The New Crusading GUIDE last Wednesday, at the North campus, the National President of University Teachers Association Ghana (UTAG), Dr. Samuel Ofori Bekoe, confirmed the situation the lecturers found themselves in and reiterated that that office building “which is being shared in the dark to administrators” originally had the Lecturers Office Annex when the school bid for the facility at GETFund. He said he was clear in his mind because he was part of the development committee that saw to infrastructural development, adding, that it was even mentioned repeatedly during academic meetings.   The president could not understand why administrators already had offices and still the new building would be added on to theirs. He acknowledged the tremendous improvement in the area of infrastructure seen in the past 8 years reign of the Vice Chancellor, Professor Asabre, but accused him of neglecting the core persons (lecturers) of the university and all they got when they complained was the word ‘wait’. He observed that if wider consultations had been done with lecturers and students before the project begun, things would have been much better than the situation they have at hand now. Christopher Akwaa-Mensah, the Registrar, after admitting to the problems in office accommodation described as mischievous the actions by lecturers that about 90 percent of the office challenges had been resolved already. Displaying a building plan in front of this reporter, Mr. Akwaa-Mensah denied that Teku block 2 was originally for lecturers, adding that, lecturers were supposed to be in faculties and not separate office complex. “Indeed administrators needed offices more than lecturers because administrators could lose documents belonging to the school but the lecturers; they can sit in their cars, revise and proceed to teach”, the registrar noted. The Registrar pointed out that there were other infrastructure projects going on their campuses and that it was a matter of time and the issue of offices would be a thing of the past. Nevertheless, he assured them of the completion of an Education Faculty soon, to accommodate scores of lecturers in addition to the hall of residence at the Central campus converted into offices, to benefit lecturers of Creative Arts Department. Responding to the comments of the Registrar, Dr. Ofori Bekoe said they were not complaining about the location of the office because lecturers have been driving from home all the time to teach.

Source: New Crusading Guide

The University of Ghana holds three simultaneous matriculation at Distance Education (DE) Learning Centres.

Accra, April 27, GNA – The University of Ghana (UG) for the first time, has held three simultaneous matriculation at its Accra City Campus, Kumasi, and Tamale Distance Education (DE) Learning Centres.

Matriculants at the Accra City Campus were drawn from Accra, Cape Coast, Tsito, Koforidua and Takoradi Learning Centres, while that of the Kumasi and Sunyani centres took place in Kumasi; whereas the Tamale centre hosted students from Tamale, Bolgatanga and Wa centres.

Addressing the matriculants at the Accra City Campus, Professor Ernest Ayittey, the Vice Chancellor (VC) of UG, said, for the first time, matriculation ceremonies were being held concurrently in three regional learning centres, as part of the long-term goal to transform the regional centres into satellite campuses of the University.

He said there had being a number of changes in the DE mode of the University starting from  the 2014/2015 academic year which aimed at improving on delivery and making the distance learning mode more attractive to students.

The VC mentioned that one of such changes was the restructuring and expansion of the programmes on offer.

Prof Ayittey announced that programmes being offered had been expanded to include Nursing and Information Technology.

He said the Nursing programme, run in conjunction with the School of Nursing, had proven to be particularly popular in most regional centres.

He disclosed that a total of 653 applications were received this academic year for Nursing, out of which 513 were admitted and 450 enrolled, representing 38 per cent of the total number of enrolled DE students.

The VC said the Bachelor of Science in Administration and Bachelor of Arts programmes remained popular choices for their DE students, with 346 and 367 students respectively accepting offers this academic year.

He pointed out that there were 21 students enrolled in their newly-introduced Bachelor of Science programme in Information Technology, which for this academic year was being offered at the Accra City Campus.

On the general enrolment, the VC observed that figures for the 2014/2015 academic year were up from last year’s figure of 775 to 1184, representing a 52 per cent increase.

“We are working hard as a University to not only to increase the numbers of our students in the Distance Learning mode, but also to improve the facilities and learning experiences that our students have,” Prof Ayittey stated.

“Starting from this year, DE students were admitted to their regional centres, and with the improvement of facilities in the centres, the students will have all tutorials and examinations in their centres, without having to come down to Legon, as has been the practice over the years,” he added.

He said the collegiate system which was implemented at the beginning of this academic year would provide more room for innovations at the school and college levels, and the semi-autonomous nature of the colleges would enable them take more decisions on their academic programmes and administration.

Prof Ayittey recounted that the University recently inaugurated a $ 37.5 million Information Communication Technology (ICT) project for its DE programme under the Chinese Phase Two ICT Project.

He said the project, funded with a Chinese Government loan procured by the Ghana Government on behalf of UG, had deployed an integrated Digital Mobile Learning platform for DE.

“This is part of a larger set of activities reflecting the strong desire of UG to use ICT as a major strategy in achieving its future goals,” Prof Ayittey said.

The VC said as part of the project, the Accra, Koforidua, Sunyani, Takoradi, Tsito and Wa Centres had been equipped with modern facilities; with each centre provided with ultra-modern computer labs, smart classrooms, a video conference facility, backup generators and outdoor Wi-Fi.

He noted that in addition, as part of the project; 3000 internet enabled android tablets had been acquired; pre-loaded with the relevant teaching and learning materials, and distributed to newly admitted students.

Prof Ayittey said the DE programme was therefore, in the process of moving away from paper-based teaching materials to Sakai, an eLearning platform, which has enhanced teaching and learning.

“Also as part of the plan to grow regional learning centres into campuses of the University, work has started on the rehabilitation and refurbishment of the regional learning centres,” the VC said.

Prof Ayittey further urged the students to take their studies seriously and determine to be part of the 2017 and 2018 graduating classes for those admitted to level 200 and 100 respectively.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Increase financial literacy in education system – Professor William Steel

Accra, April 27, GNA - Professor William Steel, an Adjunct Professor of the University of Ghana’s Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research, has called for greater inclusion of financial literacy in Ghana’s education system.

He cited one instance where some remarkable finance educational materials which were being used in Zambia, were found to have Ghanaian origins: the materials exist in Ghana but are not being employed in teaching and learning.

The Adjunct Professor was speaking on the theme: “The Role of Financial Services in Poverty Reduction and Social Inclusion in Ghana,” at the annual general meeting of the Brandeis Graduate Association of Ghana in Accra.

He said poverty reduction, social and financial inclusion efforts for the marginalized in society, such as the provision of micro-finance services, must embed more financial literacy for the targeted low income earners and for the younger generation as well. 

“In Ghana, the good news is that financial services have been extended to many people, but the bad news is the interest rates; and many people are not very literate to know what they are getting into,” Prof Steel said.

The Brandeis Graduate Association of Ghana which is the Ghanaian alumni association of Brandeis University in Massachusetts, was inaugurated in 2014 with the aim of reducing poverty and improving access of the deprived in society, to education and health.

Mr Samuel Kwotuah, President of Brandeis Graduate Association of Ghana, said the self-funding association was not in a rush to design and execute its projects as they need to be designed carefully to be feasible.

He disclosed that in the near future, the organization would be going into policy dialogue with government.

“We will be taking some of the policies, trying to analyze those policies and see how the policies will have impact on Ghanaians and what advice we can give to government so that we would be able to implement laudable policies”, the President said.

Source: GNA