The University of Ghana (UG) has received accreditation and started the operation of satellite campuses in Takoradi and Kumasi.
The Vice-Chancellor of the university, Professor Nana Aba Amfo, who announced this yesterday, said admissions to the two campuses were ongoing.
“The take-off of the new campuses will further consolidate the UG brand and standards in the Ashanti and Western regions and will also open up more places for the admission of undergraduate students,” she said.
Prof. Amfo said this in an address read on her behalf by the Pro-Vice Chancellor, Academic and Student Affairs, Prof. Gordon A. Awandare, at the second session of the graduation ceremonies for the School of Graduate Studies in Accra.
The event formed part of 15 congregation ceremonies this week, involving the graduation of 15,549 students who have successfully completed their programmes of study.
The number includes 120 Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), 3,389 Master’s, 10,504 undergraduate and 611 non-degree level students.
Bed allocation
The Vice-Chancellor said in an effort to improve access to student accommodation, an Open Randomised Bed Allocation System had been introduced and that the system ensured a fair and transparent process in bed allocation, offering all students an equal opportunity of being allocated a room irrespective of their internet connectivity status, which had been a challenge in the past.
“This new approach was successfully implemented for the allocation of beds in October 2023 and again two weeks ago for the incoming Level 100 students and will continue to be used for future allocation of bed spaces,” she said.
Prof. Amfo said the university continued to work towards increasing the stock of accommodation available for its students.
“There is continued engagement with private partners to expand student accommodation and several private hostels are at various stages of completion”.
“The Diamond Jubilee Hostel, which is being constructed and furnished using internally generated funds, is nearing completion and work is also ongoing on the Ghana University Staff Superannuation Scheme (GUSSS) Student Hostel and on the PhD apartments,” she said.
All of those initiatives in addition to private hostels being constructed, when completed, would add to the stock of beds available significantly, the UG Vice-Chancellor said.
Additionally, Prof. Amfo said the policy of prioritising allocation of places in the traditional halls to fresh undergraduate students would continue.
Admissions
Prof. Amfo said the university had made significant strides in enhancing its educational landscape over the period under review.
“We have just completed undergraduate admissions and, so far, a total of 14,072 students have accepted the offers made them and enrolled on programmes in the university.
This brings current total enrolment to 63,820 for the first semester of the 2023/2024 academic year.
“This figure reflects a gender distribution, with 49.7 per cent male and 50.3 per cent female students, showcasing our commitment to gender balance,” she said.
Prof. Amfo said the data on enrolment showed an undergraduate to graduate student ratio of 9:1 and that the university would continue to work on increasing its graduate student numbers in order to ensure continuity in its quest for research excellence.
Positive change
The Senior Partner of KPMG in Ghana, Anthony Kwasi Sarpong, who was the guest speaker, charged the graduates to be agents of positive change.
As graduates, he said, they must ask themselves how far they had come and how far they were prepared to go.
He charged them not to leave out the God factor in their lives as “it certainly works”.
Mr Sarpong also encouraged the graduates to live by integrity as they would find fulfilment and peace in doing so.
In an address read on her behalf, the Chancellor of the University, Mary Chinery-Hesse, congratulated the graduates, saying their hard work had brought them to the graduating moment.
The Valedictorian, Charles Nutrokpor, who had an average grade point (GPA) of 3.96 in Computer Science, congratulated his colleagues on the teamwork and support for one another that had earned them the honours.
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