|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
By Isaac Ato MENSAH
Accra – 13 May, 2019
Tertiary institutions in Ghana are being lobbied by National Accreditation Board and National Council for Tertiary Education to agree to a centralized admissions system.
Dr Kingsley Nyarko, Executive Secretary of National Accreditation Board, read a speech on behalf of the Minister of Education which announced the proposed policy.
We reproduce below the main body of the speech.
SPEECH BY DR MATTHEW OPOKU PREMPEH, MINISTER FOR EDUCATION AND MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT FOR MANHYIA SOUTH DELIVERED TO THE JOINT FIFTH MATRICULATION AND FIRST CONGREGATION OF ANGLICAN UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY AT THE NKORANZA CAMPUS IN NKORANZA ON 11TH MAY 2019
Your Eminence the Archbishop of the Internal Province of Ghana
Nananom and Councilors of the University
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen
I am delighted to be invited to this august gathering of the joint Fifth Matriculation and First Congregation of Anglican University College of Technology, Nkoranza campus.
I feel very elated for two reasons. First, I am a member of the Anglican Church. Second, your invitation specifically affords me the liberty of choosing the topic for my address.
I am happy and humbled to see in our assembly today men and women of the Anglican Communion who helped us in the formation of our faith as young Anglicans and who are still very active in the work of the church.
In our midst today are my Lord Bishops of the Anglican Church and their spouses; Members of the University Council who have worked hard to establish sound principles of faith and intellectualism upon which the university is founded; the Regent and Nananom of Nkoranza Traditional Council who have contributed land, ideas and other resources to ensure the growth of not only this University, but the Church in the Bono East Region; and, our reverend ministers, members of staff and parents, who engage our students daily through a cross fertilization of ideas and help shape their thinking. Our nation is grateful to all of you.
You can be certain that in preparing my annual report for 2020, I shall create a paragraph for Bono East Region and say that they have a good private university; Anglican University College of Technology.
Your Eminence theArchbishop
Nananom and Councilors
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen
I shall now focus my short address on Lambeth 2020, the meeting of all bishops of the Anglican Communion to be held in the United Kingdom. The theme is: “God’s Church for God’s World: walking, listening and witnessing together”.
It was at the 2008 Lambeth Conference that your institution – the Anglican University College of Technology was launched.
His Grace The Most Reverend and Right Honourable Justin Welby, Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, Primate of all England (2013 – present), has stated of Lambeth 2020:
“It’s my prayer that, inspired by the Holy Spirit, the Lambeth Conference will reinvigorate the Communion with the vision and resources to bring the transforming love of Jesus Christ to every level of society across the world.
It will be a time of addressing hurts and concerns; of deepening existing relationships and building new ones; of grappling with issues that face the Church and the world. We will listen to each other; we will seek God’s wisdom to find ways to walk together; we will build each other up as leaders.”
Thus the Lambeth Conference has always addressed issues of relevance to the world, and provided a road map for peace and progress.
I pray that the collegial spirit that invigorates the Anglican Communion throughout the world will inspire this university as it establishes its relevance in Ghana.
Your Eminence the Archbishop
Nananom and Councilors
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen
Among the burning issues facing tertiary education in Ghana is the proposed Centralised Admissions and Placement Policy for all universities in Ghana.
The purchasing of multiple application forms of tertiary institutions by prospective candidates is problematic.
These application forms are expensive, but that is not the only problem.
How does a responsible society guarantee that qualified students will get placement, and such information will be available to other tertiary institutions, particularly private universities who have taken loans and salary overdrafts, and who need fee paying students to recover their costs?
How do we reduce late admissions which diminish the usual 13-week semester to a mere six weeks for some students just because they are going around shopping for admissions?
How do we ensure that the National Development Planning Commission, Association of Ghana Industries, researchers like many of you seated here and the Ghanaian public have real time data that shows us exactly how many students are enrolled in various courses?
Our data at the Ministry of Education indicate that 70 percent of our tertiary students are enrolled in the humanities while only 30 percent are in enrolled Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (or STEM) education.
Under the Education Strategic Plan (ESP 2018-2030) which was approved by the cabinet of President Akufo-Addo in November 2018, we plan to do a 180-degree transformation of that data into 70 percent STEM and 30 percent Humanities by 2030.
Your university, the Anglican University College of Science and Technology will no doubt play a pivotal role in this endeavor. The proposed Centralised Admissions and Placement Policy will enable all policy makers, and all stake holders have a real time picture of what is happening in terms of our manpower development.
Your Eminence the Archbishop
Nananom and Councilors
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen
I have no doubt that in the spirit of Lambeth, the Anglican Communion in Ghana will play an inspiring, dynamic and indispensible role in shaping our national education policy. We also know that the communion will as it has done produce men and women of the highest calibre for the benefit of the humankind.
I thank you for your kind attention.
Feedback; [email protected]; LinkedIn, Isaac Ato Mensah; Instagram, @atomenswriters; Twitter, @Atomens; Facebook, Isaac Ato Mensah; Telegram, Isaac Ato Mensah; Quora, Isaac Ato Mensah. WhatsApp (233) 020 022 0353.
Writers and Shakespeares Ghana Limited exist to be a moral and intellectual guide to the best practice of PR and integrated communications around the world, beginning with Ghana.