Kuupole Education Foundation launched
An educational foundation to help improve facilities in the Nandom District in the Upper West Region has been launched in Cape Coast.
Advertisement
The foundation, which is an initiative of the Vice Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast, Prof. D.D Kuupole, was launched during a reception to honour him on his 60th birthday celebration at the weekend.
Explaining his motivation for setting up the foundation, Professor Kuupole noted that his district, though one of the poorest in the country, had produced some prominent people in society and still had the potential to do better with a little push.
He said the state of library facilities in particular and educational facilities in the district in general were unsatisfactory and called on friends and well-wishers to contribute generously to the foundation.Even before setting up the foundation, Prof. Kuupole had been mobilising resources for the development of education in the district.
He thanked the wife of the Vice-President, Mrs Matilda Amissah-Arthur, for her immense support in that direction.
He recounted that he started his basic education under a tree but with determination and hard work he had got to the highest pinnacle on the academic ladder.
The Chairman for the ceremony, Mr Ambrose Dery, a former Member of Parliament and also an indigene of the district, called on all to support the initiative to provide access to education for many more children in the district.
“The Nandom District has the potential to produce more Kuupoles for the development of our dear nation, given the right push,” he observed.
Born to peasant farmers of blessed memory some 60 years ago, the story of Professor Kuupole should inspire many a young person who might think that all the odds are against him or her and it may be easier for the biblical camel to go through the eye of the needle than for him or her to make it in life.
“The cattle herds boy” as he affectionately calls himself, young Kuupole started his basic education under the shade of a baobab tree at Kogle, his hometown, but did not allow his environment to stunt his academic progression.
After his middle school at the same locality, he proceeded to the then Nandom Secondary School and then the University of Cape Coast to pursue higher education.He obtained an MPhil and PhD at the Universite de Franche-Comte, France.
He rose through the ranks to occupy positions such as Head of Department, Dean of a Faculty, Pro Vice Chancellor and the ultimate, the Vice Chancellor of one of Ghana’s prestigious public universities.
Friends who came to make the launch of the foundation/ birthday dacelebration memorable included academics, university administrators, traditional rulers, business people and past and present students of Professor Kuupole.
Prof. Kuupole is married to Dr (Mrs) Alfredina Kuupole, a senior lecturer at the same university, and they have four children.