Stakeholders deliberate on proposed university report
The taskforce for the setting up of the University of Environment and Sustainable Development in the Eastern Region last Tuesday submitted an interim report to stakeholders for deliberations.
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The university, which is to be operational before 2016, will be based at Somanya with a campus at Donkorkrom.
The taskforce, with Dr Christine Amoako-Nuama as Convenor and chaired by Professor Raymond Bening, is expected to ensure that the report is fine-tuned for onward presentation to President John Dramani Mahama.
Overview
Giving an overview of the interim report, an expert in Sustainable Development, Dr David Nanang, hinted that the university would be modelled along the same lines as other public universities in Ghana in terms of governance and administrative structures.
“However, for the university to effectively achieve its goals, there clearly needs to be some differences in its academic programmes that add and/or complement exciting programmes in Ghana,” he emphasised.
Dr Nanang, who is also the Director-General of the Canadian Forest Service - Great Lakes Forestry Centre, was convinced that if implemented according to the plan described in the interim document, there was no doubt that the university would play a significant role in the economic development of the country.
Faculties
On the academic faculties, he said, the taskforce had proposed four of them, which were Faculty of Natural and Environmental Science; Faculty of Sustainable Development; Faculty of Agribusiness and Economics and Faculty of the Built Environment.
He said the university, which was expected to offer a student-focused learning environment, would have unique and complementary programmes with fewer courses and deeper content.
Aims of the university
Dr Nanang explained that the aims of the university were, among others, to provide higher education related to sustainable development, environmental science, built environment and agribusiness and also undertake leading-edge research and the dissemination of knowledge and tools using modern information and communication technologies.
Welcoming the participants, the Minister of Education, Professor Naana Jane Opoku Agyeman, reminded them that sustainable development was inter-disciplinary and, therefore, urged the participants to make inputs to the committee’s recommendation.
Reaction on 2014 WASSCE results
Touching on the results of the 2014 West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), she dismissed the assertion that about 70 per cent of the candidates failed, and explained that the results were still being analysed, “because any student who registered and never turned up is deemed to have failed. If a student’s results are withheld, he is deemed to have failed. If a student has his or her paper cancelled, that student is deemed to have failed.”
More suggestions
The Chairman of the taskforce, Professor Raymond Bening, said what had been presented to the stakeholders was not conclusive, “it is to enable the university to take off”.
He tasked the participants to continue to forward their suggestions and inputs even after deliberations, even though the taskforce had gathered a lot of suggestions to fine-tune the report.
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