Kumasi Campus of VVU holds first matriculation
The Kumasi Campus of Valley View University (VVU) has held its maiden matriculation ceremony at Kwadaso in Kumasi, at which 321 students offering courses for both Bachelor’s and master’s degree programmes were inducted.
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At the ceremony, the acting Rector of the Kumasi Campus of VVU, Dr E. B. Amponsah, said out of the number of matriculating students, 74 would pursue studies at the Graduate School while 237 and 10 would be studying for bachelor’s degree programmes at the School of Education and the Centre for Adult & Distance Education respectively.
Programmes offered at the School of Graduate Studies include Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Strategic Management, Human Resource Management and Banking & Finance. Other courses are Master of Education (MEd) in Curriculum & Instruction, Master of Philosophy (MPhil) in Educational Administration & Leadership and Postgraduate Diploma in Education. He said the university would soon introduce a Master of Business Administration in Accounting.
He listed programmes at the undergraduate level at the School of Education as comprising Accounting, English, Information Technology, Management, Mathematics, Social Studies and Religious Studies.
At the Centre for Adult & Distance Education, programmes which are taught on weekends and were only recently begun on February 27, this year include an access course for Nursing Health Assistant (Clinicals) and Nursing Assistant (Clinicals).
He said the access course would have students study Mathematics, English and Integrated Science for a period of six weeks after which successful students would be admitted to Level 200 to pursue a Bachelor of Science degree (BSc) in Nursing.
Value-based education
The Vice Chancellor (VC) of VVU, Prof. Daniel Kwame Bediako, emphasised that like all Seventh-Day Adventist institutions of higher learning worldwide, VVU would continue to offer value-based education that fosters a balanced development of the whole person spiritually, intellectually, physically and socially.
He assured the matriculants that the university community, including the main campus and other campuses, was committed to ensuring that the students achieved success right from the beginning to the end of their stay in the school and urged them to abide by the university’s rules and regulations.
Govt’s role to bridge skill gap
The Principal of the College of Technology Education, Kumasi campus, of the University of Education, Winneba, Prof. (Ing.) Reynolds Okai, pointed out that there was a skills gap in the country, which was the difference between skills that employers needed and skills that the workforce offered.
He noted that even though the government was contributing its quota to bridge the gap by sponsoring the training of students, there was still more room for improvement.
He said it had become necessary for the government to consider extending funding for public tertiary institutions through the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETfund) and other government budgetary allocations to private tertiary institutions as well.
He added that the government could also consider assisting private tertiary institutions to recruit the right calibre of academicians to augment their staff and also assist in establishing entrepreneurship training centres for practical training in all the 10 regions of the country.
Matriculation oath
Reciting the matriculation oath, the students pledged solemnly before God and the congregation “to cheerfully and faithfully obey all written rules and regulations passed by the institution and be loyal to the university”.