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MountCrest University College: A partner in national development

The mention of Larteh in the past invoked fear of the powerful local deity – Akonedi – but today, the name of the famous town on the Akwapem Ridge arouses interest in a burgeoning educational institution that is destined for fame and greatness.

With its location on the crest of the mountains at Larteh, MountCrest University College (MCU) has put the name of that historic town on the global education radar, especially given its quality faculty and collaboration with reputable international educational institutions.

At age five, the MCU may be considered a toddler in the tertiary education business, but that notwithstanding, it is recognised as a major player in the industry, having also become a household name.

The MCU may have carved that niche even as infant because it is ambitious in character and focused in approach, as it endeavours to become the first private tertiary institution to venture into medical education.

Furthermore, the MCU and the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), in a collaborative initiative, and with the support of the Leitner Centre for International Law and Justice at the Fordham Law School in New York, are set to become the first tertiary institutions in Ghana to offer a doctorate degree programme in law.

All these ambitious initiatives are the fruits of the seed sowed by a native of Larteh, Mr Kwaku Ansa-Asare and his wife, Helena, as an appreciation of what society gave to them in education.

“It is our modest contribution to the development of Ghana. To whom much is given, much is expected,” Mr Ansa-Asare remarks.

 

Impact of MCU on Larteh

But even more significant, MountCrest has the potential of being a growth pole around which many development and economic initiatives are expected to sprout and flourish in Larteh.

Apart from generating employment for the local people, the hundreds of students and staff of the university who may have to locate in Larteh would surely enhance economic activities in the town.

A boom in business operations in the hospitality, transport, telecommunication, local food vending, petty trading and many others is inevitable under the circumstance.

Moreover, the ambitious plan of establishing a teaching hospital attached to the MCU medical school is expected to impact hugely on healthcare delivery.

And before that vision comes to fruition, the Eastern Regional Minister, Ms Helen Adjoa Ntoso, cannot hide her joy for the initiative.

“As regional minister, I wish to highly commend the founder and management of MCU for this great vision of building the School of Medical and Health Sciences at Larteh,” Ms Ntoso said at the sod-cutting ceremony for the beginning of construction work of the medical school building on August 14, 2013.

“I associate myself with the noble vision and wish MCU success as you embark on this project, which, to all intents and purposes, will contribute to healthcare delivery within and outside the shores of Ghana,” she added.

 

Background of MCU

MountCrest University College derives its name from its location atop the mountains of Larteh overlooking the township.

Established in August 2008, the MCU was granted accreditation by the National Accreditation Board (NAB) on January 1, 2011 to run programmes in law, health sciences and business at both the undergraduate and graduate levels,  and is affiliated to the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).

Its main objective is to provide an avenue for university education to help address the critical manpower needs of the country.

The MCU is founded upon moral values and the principles of equality, academic freedom and justice, with a vision “to become a world class teaching and research university, educating for life and addressing the challenges facing contemporary society.”

That vision drives the mission of the university “to train and prepare a new generation of graduates in body, mind and spirit for the transformation of society.”

 

What MCU offers

Many people associate MountCrest with the study of law, perhaps, due to the professional background of the founder as a distinguished lawyer and law teacher, and the rapid growth and popularity of the university’s Faculty of Laws in respect of enrolment and image.

But apart from the Faculty of Laws, the MCU has also established the School of Medical and Allied Health Sciences and the School of Business.

Work on the construction of buildings for the School of Medical and Allied Health Sciences’ is in progress, and management anticipates that the allied health sciences programmes, namely, Nursing, Midwifery, Psychiatric Nursing, Physician Assistants and Medical Laboratory, would begin in March 2014.

The medicine programme is expected to begin in 2016, by which time the construction of a teaching hospital and other requisite facilities would have been completed.

Mr Ansa-Asare admits that venturing into medical education is an ambitious initiative for a private tertiary institution but he submits: “We want to lead the way and show that it can be done.”

He says the burden of providing the critical needs of the country should not be left on the shoulders of the government alone, adding, “Any Ghanaian or for that matter, any individual who feels able to do it, must do it.”

The cost implication of establishing a medical school is very huge but with the support of two commercial banks and sourcing of funds from abroad, management believes it can deliver the projects and programmes on schedule.

 

Faculty members

The quality of the faculty at MountCrest is a clear pointer to the fact that the university really means business in its academic endeavours.

The Faculty of Laws, for instance, has 36 lecturers, including five professors of international repute and many senior members with solid local and international experience.

Indeed, the founder could not help but beat his chest about the profile of the MCU faculty: “We have a world class teaching faculty that can teach in any university in the world.”

With such a solid faculty, great vision and strong desire to produce high quality human resource for national development, there may not be any reason to contest Mr Ansa-Asare’s claim that MountCrest University College is “a university of choice.”

By Kofi Yeboah/Daily Graphic/Ghana

Writer’s Email: [email protected]

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