UCC sets up distance learning centre in Upper West
The University of Cape Coast (UCC) has started constructing a three-storey block in the Wa West District to be used as the school’s distance learning centre in the Upper West Region.
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The GH¢12.8 million project, expected to be completed within 18 months, is being financed solely from the university’s internally generated funds.
On completion, the facility, which is also disabled-friendly, will have 12 large lecture halls, 12 offices, three staff common rooms and a library as the initial component of infrastructure on the 50-acre plot.
“This is our support for the development of the educational system in the country,” Prof. D.D. Kuupoule, Vice-Chancellor of the university, said at the sod-cutting ceremony at Dorimon, where the distance learning centre is being sited.
“It is said that education is expensive,” he noted, “but we re-invest the money we make back into the training of students to complement government efforts.”
The Provost of the distance learning programme at UCC, Prof. Emmanuel Oduro, said distance learning gave students an advantage of proximity to make things easier for them.
Breaking new grounds
When completed, the project will become the 10th regional centre and the 48th study centre of the university across the country.
The Upper West Distance Learning Centre will offer first and second degree programmes in business and education.
Prof. Kuupoule said ultimately, the school authorities hoped to make the centre a full campus.
The Upper West Regional Minister, Alhaji Amin Amidu Sulemani, said distance learning had eased access to higher education, stating the initiative by UCC was a sure way to decongest the campuses of universities.
He expressed concern at the cost of school fees at all levels of Ghana’s educational structure, and pleaded that “fees should be modest so students can pay for and access quality higher education” at the UCC distance learning centre.
He said an urgent response was needed from policy makers to arrest the falling standards in education, stressing that the trend was not limited to basic and second cycle institutions.
Skilled competence
“Some graduates lack the skilled competence to solve basic middle-level issues at the work place,” he said.
The Paramount Chief of Dorimon Traditional Area, Naa Sohiwminye Daana Gore II, urged the youth of the Upper West Region to take advantage of the centre to academically upgrade themselves to the highest level.
He said the siting of the project in his traditional area, along with a new dam under construction in the area and the allocation of one of the community-based senior high school projects to the area, should provide the youth of the area with greater opportunities to excel.