The University of Ghana (UG) has been granted accreditation to run its newly-established Takoradi and Kumasi City campuses.
Admissions to the two campuses are ongoing, the Vice Chancellor of the university, Professor Nana Ana Appiah Amfo, disclosed this yesterday at the 2024 Congregation of the School of Graduate Studies in Accra.
Prof. Amfo in a speech read on her behalf, by the Dean of the School of Graduate Studies, Prof. Robert Darko Osei, said take-off of the new campuses would further consolidate the UG brand and standards in the Ashanti and Western Regions, and increase admission of more undergraduate students.
In all, a total of 15,549 students who completed their programmes of study will be graduating in the week-long 15 congregation ceremony, which is unprecedented in the history of the UG.
They include 120 PhDs, 3,389 at the Masters’ level, 10,504 undergraduate level and 611 at the non-degree level.
The new campuses, the Vice Chancellor explained would also ease the pressure on the UG Legon Campus as well as reduce the financial burden on parents and guardians.
The Vice Chancellor congratulating the students, noted that the UG has made significant strides in enhancing the educational landscape with undergraduate admissions, totalling 14,072 students, who have accepted admissions offered them.
This, she said brought the current total enrolment to 63,820, for the first semester of the 2023/2024 academic year, representing 49.7 per cent male and 50.3 per cent female students.
Prof. Amfo, congratulating the students said the UG in its efforts to improve access to student accommodation, has introduced an Open Randomised Bed Allocation System, to ensure a fair and transparent process in bed allocation.
She said the Diamond Jubilee hostel being constructed and furnished with internally generated funds, was nearing completion, and work was ongoing on the Ghana University Staff Superannuation Scheme student hostel and on the PhD apartments to provide more spaces for fresh undergraduate students.
Prof. Amfo stated that 139 students were presented with laptops, under the One Student One Laptop Initiative (1S1L), bringing the total number of laptops distributed to 309.
She said a “total of 500 laptops have been donated by individuals and corporate bodies while contracts have been awarded for the setting up of a laptop assembling plant on campus, to further support our students to obtain laptops.”
She commended the graduating students for their transformational journey, and urged them to embrace challenges, and transcend boundaries.
The Vice Chancellor advised “may your future be as bright and impactful as the time you have spent with us go forth with courage uphold the values of our university, and make your mark in the world.”
A Senior Partner of KPMG, Mr Anthony Kwesi Sarpong, urged the graduates to aspire for excellence and use knowledge acquired to transform the lives of others.
According to him, the youth were confronted with so many challenges, including cyber-crime, unemployment, corruption, poverty, conflicts and illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey, which posed serious threat to the country’s food production.
He urged them to take advantage of the global technology, and harness their talents to become resourceful.
