Kudos, University of Education, Winneba
Education administrators, parents and final-year students in senior high school (SHS) have been experiencing sleepless nights over the outcome of this year’s West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
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For the first time in the history of education in the country, two groups of final-year students in SHS are writing the WASSCE.
About 409,753 candidates are writing the examination countrywide.
Prior to the start of the examination, some stakeholders expressed worry over the facilities put in place to accommodate the unusually large number of candidates.
After the first week of the examination, we think the educational authorities must be commended for the arrangements to address the challenges of an examination of such magnitude.
It is our prayer that the Ministry of Education, the Ghana Education Service, the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and SHS headmasters will continue with the strict vigilance and supervision to ensure a hitch-free WASSCE.
Parents and students’ headache is not limited to the conduct of the examination but how to gain admission to tertiary institutions, especially the public universities.
Looking at the large numbers, it is difficult to imagine how the public universities will accommodate the more than 400,000 students who are writing the WASSCE in the hope that they can gain admission to the tertiary institutions.
The DAILY GRAPHIC believes in the ingenuity of the Ghanaian to rise to the occasion.
True to that conviction, the University of Education, Winneba (UEW) has decided to double admissions for the 2013/2014 academic year in order to reduce anxiety among students and parents.
The Vice-Chancellor of the UEW, Professor Akwasi Asabere-Ameyaw, said at Winneba last Saturday that the university would admit 7,500 fresh students this year, an increase of about 50 per cent over the previous year’s intake.
He said as part of its preparation for the expected intake, the UEW had completed the construction of three hostels, one each on its campuses in Kumasi, Mampong and Winneba.
The DAILY GRAPHIC calls on the authorities of other public universities and tertiary institutions to find means of increasing their admissions this year in order to take on more candidates to pursue degree and professional courses.
The task ahead is not going to be an easy one, but if we are determined to find a way out, it can be done.
We do not have the luxury of engaging in a blame game, except to think outside the box to turn the present challenge into an opportunity that can be leveraged for the good of all.
While we call on the authorities of our universities to do more to admit more students, it behoves the government to provide the universities with resources to expand their facilities.
Unfortunately, the extreme politicisation of issues, including education, has imposed the present challenges on us. It teaches us a lesson to be cautious when looking at every issue with political lenses, as that creates serious challenges for our development efforts.
Let us resolve never again to go along this path that imposes pressure on the educational authorities, parents and students, where admission opportunities in tertiary institutions are concerned.
Whatever the challenges that lie ahead concerning admission to tertiary institutions this year, the DAILY GRAPHIC commends the UEW for the progressive step it has taken to admit more students for the next academic year.