The College of Education has held a Durbar and Colloquium on the theme: Celebrating Excellence: Shaping the Future of Education in Ghana, as part of year-long activities marking the 70th anniversary of the University of Ghana.
Prof. Kwame Offei, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Academic and Student Affairs, who gave the welcome address, noted that the College of Education was doing very well, and was creating opportunities for students through excellence in teaching, research and scholarship, by taking quality education to the doorsteps of all, through its Learning Centres across the length and breadth of the country. He stressed that there was the need to create a platform for constructing innovative ways in which the future of education could be positively re-structured and challenged the College to consider steps that could be taken to make products of the College more prepared for the job market.
Prof. Kwame Offei delivering the welcome address
The Acting Provost of the College of Education, Prof. Michael Tagoe gave a brief report on the state of the College. His report focused on research and collaborations in the College, and also various upcoming conferences and collaborations in the College.
Acting Provost, Prof. Michael Tagoe
The durbar was chaired by a member of the College Advisory Board, Rev. Dr. Joyce Aryee. She congratulated the College of Education and the University of Ghana for its achievements so far and also stated that much more was required from them. She noted that the development of the nation rests in the training and preparation offered to the youth, stressing that a lot still needs to be done on shaping the future of education in Ghana. She charged participants to all resolve to play their part in bringing up and nurturing the next generation of leaders and entrepreneurs that Ghana needs.
Rev. Dr. Joyce Aryee
Prof. Kwesi Yankah, Minister of State for Tertiary Education, who was the Guest Speaker for the event, emphasized the need for universities to strengthen institutions dedicated to non-formal education, and to double their efforts towards enabling non-formal sectors of education to benefit from intervention programs aimed at improving access to quality education and training. He emphasized the role of the University of Ghana as a pace setter, noting that “if Legon excels as a candidate, so do the other universities excel, and so does Ghana. If on the other hand, Legon fails, or falls, so do the rest, and so does Ghana”
Prof. Yankah delivering his address
Prof. Yankah lauded the University for having made major contributions to the development of the country, and for training thousands of students who have made a mark both within Ghana and on the international stage. He traced the history of the beginnings of the College of Education, from the Department of Extra Mural Studies, that later became the Institute of Adult Education, the Institute of Continuing and Distance Education, to the current School of Continuing and Distance Education, one of the three Schools in the College of Education. He urged the College to continue to mount programmes that promote lifelong learning opportunities for all, and that ensure inclusive and equitable quality education. In line with the AU Agenda 2063, Prof. Yankah encouraged the College to work towards mainstreaming marginalized segments in the educational process, considering these as equally important targets and beneficiaries of the educational process.
There was an exhibition of scholarly works by faculty in the College, and concurrent sessions during which faculty presented their research work. There was also a panel discussion on the topic Linking education to jobs: How ready are students for Entrepreneurship? Panelists were: Mr. Phillip Dela Zumanu, an entrepreneur and a Doctoral candidate, Mr. Ebenezer Owusu, a past participant of the UG Enterprise Zone, Mrs. Emi-Beth Aku Quantson, Chief Executive Officer and founder of Kawa Moka Limited, Mrs. Jocelene Buckman, Director of the Careers and Counselling Centre and Mr. Alex Mould, former Chief Executive of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, and a consultant at Milstreet Capital.
Panel discussion
Mr. Felix NyarkoPong, Chairman of the College Advisory Board, contributing to the panel discussion
Faculty members at the exhibition
The University of Ghana was founded as the University College of the Gold Coast by Ordinance on August11, 1948 for the purpose of providing and promoting university education, learning and research, and subsequently obtained its own charter and changed into the University of Ghana by an act of parliament (Act 79) on October 1, 1961. The University’s year-long anniversary celebration on the theme: Celebrating Excellence, Shaping futures was launched on February 20, 2018.
Participants at the Durbar and Colloquium
University officials, guests and participants
Please click on the options below for speeches, additional photographs and an audio recording: