The St Francis College of Education (FRANCO) at Hohoe in the Volta Region has achieved a historical milestone for the award of Bachelor of Education programme by obtaining 135 First Class degrees at the end of the 2025 academic year.
The number comprised 82 males and 53 females, representing 29 per cent of the total graduates.
This was announced by the acting Principal of FRANCO, Dr Christopher Yaw Dewodo, in his report during the 18 congregation of the college at Hohoe in the Volta Region last Saturday.
The ceremony was on the theme: “Empowering Future Educators: Teaching in the Age of Artificial Intelligence”.
Achievements
He commended the hard work of both the students and staff for the achievements.
Giving the statistics, Dr Yao Dewodo said out of 459 graduates in Bachelor of Education degree in Basic Education, 135 obtained First Class Degrees, 257 Second Class Upper Division, 61 Second Class Lower Division, six Third Class, with no passes.
“Since the inception the Bachelor of Education (B. ED) programme, this cohort has produced the highest number of first class honours graduates with 135 students earning this prestigious distinction,” he said.
Charge to graduates
Dr Yao Dewodo urged the graduates not to end their search for knowledge by their exit from the college but to strive for academic excellence, shaping lives and the transformation of society.
On the challenges of the college, he appealed for a new bus and the provision of more teaching and learning facilities, including projectors, smart boards and lecture theatres to accommodate the increasing number of students annually.
Dr Yao Dewodo expressed his gratitude to the government for making the contractor working on their 300-bed capacity hostel project to return to site.
He said work was progressing steadily towards completion before the end of the year.
Staff capacity development
He said five more lecturers had obtained doctoral degrees, increasing their number to 12.
In all, eight graduates including three females were awarded for their outstanding academic performance.
The overall best graduating student, Mr Bless Kpogah, took home a cash prize and citation while the Best Graduating Female, Miss Josephine Denyo, received a television set and citation.
The Chief of Staff, Julius Debrah, in a message delivered on his behalf by the Presidential Envoy for Inter-Faith and Ecumenical Relations, Elvis Afriyie-Ankrah, congratulated the students for choosing the noblest profession .
He said any other professional came out of the efforts of the teacher.
Mr Debrah said, teachers continued to be very important and as such colleges of education should continue to turn out innovative teachers.
Shape
That, he said was because the nation needed innovative teachers who would shape and produce young people to transform their society.
“The government remained committed to strengthening education at all levels and ensuring that our educational institutions are adequately positioned to prepare learners for the demands of the modern world,” he added.
The Bishop of the Ho Diocese of the Catholic Church, Most Reverend Emmanuel Fianu, said Artificial Intelligence (AI) had impacted education and noted that graduates should combine both the positive and negative sides of the AI in their profession to produce the right calibre of people for the society.
