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Professor Mawutor Avoke

Government will continue to develop tertiary education — Prez Mahama

President John Dramani Mahama has reiterated the government’s commitment to develop tertiary education in the country.

According to him, such a move had been amply demonstrated with the establishment of new institutions of higher learning, expansion of existing ones and equipping them to function effectively. 

Congregation

The President stated this in a speech read on his behalf during the 20th congregation of the University of Education, Winneba (UEW) last Friday.

The ceremony saw the award of degrees and diplomas to products of the Centre for Distance Education of the Institute for Educational Development and Extension in the southern sector of the country. A total of 1,248 products were awarded degrees, while 68 had diplomas.

President Mahama said it was in furtherance of this cause that the government was currently undertaking an exercise which involved the expansion and equipping of science laboratories in tertiary institutions to make the teaching and learning of science and technology more practical and attractive. He also said the 38 public colleges of education were being expanded and renovated.

Government’s vision

The President noted that the government’s vision of providing a public university in every region was on course with the inauguration of the permanent campus of the University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS) and setting up of the University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR) in the Volta and Brong Ahafo regions respectively.

He added that to complete the vision, the University of Environment and Sustainable Development, with its main campus at Trom, near Somanya, and another campus at Donkorkrom, both in the Eastern Region, would be established soon.

He explained that the government’s plan of converting polytechnics into technical universities was real and not just a change of name, adding that it was a conscious effort to rebrand and strengthen the institutions to train high and middle-level manpower in the areas of technology, science engineering and vocational education.

“’Polytechnics that do not fall in the first phase of the conversion at the time the bill was passed would be fully supported by the government to meet the criteria by addressing their deficiencies so that they can be converted as soon as possible,’’ he added.

Vice Chancellor

The Vice Chancellor of the UEW, Professor Mawutor Avoke, in his address, welcomed the passage of the Colleges of Education Act, which upgraded all the teacher training colleges into Colleges of Education.

He mentioned that the UEW had the capacity to assist the colleges and had, therefore, opened its doors to them for greater collaboration and partnership.

He urged the graduating students to make good use of every opportunity, confront all challenges and be diligent in order to excel wherever they might find themselves.

Council Chairman

The Chairman of the UEW Governing Council, Dr Emmanuel Kenneth Andoh, in a welcome address, expressed worry about the leak of examination questions in the ongoing West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), and described the attempt by the West African Examination Council (WAEC) to explain the incident as ‘pathetic.’

He called on WAEC to accept responsibility for the mess, make amends and take the necessary steps to prevent the leak of examination questions in future.

 

Writer’s email:[email protected].

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