One hundred-and-four Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) students yesterday graduated from the University of Ghana, Legon.
They were part of the 11,711 students who graduated from the university after they had successfully pursued various graduate degree programmes from all four of the university’s colleges, namely College of Humanities, College of Basic and Applied Sciences, College of Health Sciences and College of Education as well as the School of Graduate Studies.
All through this week, the UG held its 2023 Congregation to confer academic honours on 8,331 students who graduated with Bachelor’s degrees, 462 diplomas and 2,918 graduate students made up of 104 Doctor of Philosophy (PhDs) and 2,816 Master’s students.
PhD Graduates
Key among the personalities who graduated with the PhD were the Minister designate for Food and Agriculture, Bryan Acheampong, the Chief Executive Officer of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Henry Kwabena Kokofu; the Eastern Regional Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mark-Oliver Kevor; the Head of Public Affairs Department of the University of Ghana, Elizier Taiba Ameyaw-Buronyah, and the Secretary of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration, Victoria Mwinsumah Kunbuor.
Hard work
Addressing the ceremony, the Vice-President in charge of Sustainability and External Relations of Newmont Africa, Adiki Ofeibea Ayitevie, called on the graduates to strive to be the very best of themselves and best wherever they found themselves.
Attaining a graduate degree, she said, was demanding, adding that hard work paid.
She said the graduates should not let failure hold them down, but rather, they should rise and shine to achieve their dreams in life.
Modernisation
In her address, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Prof. Nana Aba Amfo, said the university continued to work towards modernising and streamlining its processes, adding that
“as part of this initiative, we have recently launched an online student academic records request portal and service fees system, which will gradually replace the traditional paper-based system”.
The new portal and service, she said, provided a more efficient and convenient way for students to request academic records and pay for related services from the comfort of their own devices.
The university had also partnered with Ghana Post to provide subsidised courier services for delivery of academic documents, she said.
The Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Mary Chinery-Hesse, encouraged the graduates to lift high the flag of the institution and to be innovative in all that they did.
“As you go forth into the world, I count on you to continue to use the skills and knowledge that you have gained here at the University of Ghana to make a positive impact in your communities and beyond, the Chancellor said.
The Valedictorian, Titilope Folarin Aina Ajayi, said the education she and her colleagues had gained was a great privilege must not be taken for granted.