Accra, April 2, GNA - Dr Osei K. Darkwa, President of the Ghana Telecom University College, has urged graduates from tertiary institutions to pay back to society the support they received in their quest for knowledge.

He asked them not to use the knowledge they have acquired to cheat, suppress and intimidate people. "The weak in the society looks up to you to use your acquired knowledge to produce and support them," he said when he inaugurated the Ghana Telecom University College Lectures Association on Thursday in Accra.

Dr Darkwa said only 33.3 per cent of students qualified to enter tertiary institutions in Ghana leaving a very huge gap, and called on educational authorities to help to improve the situation. He said because of the huge deficit the Telecom University had placed more emphasis on its programmes and research work to support rural communities.

Dr Darkwa said countries like Nigeria and United Kingdom admit between 4,000 to 5,000 students every year into one single tertiary institution, due to their long distance learning programmes, which enabled them to produce the human resource to meet their market demand, while Ghana admits only 1,000 to 2,000.

He said the Telecom University recognized as one of the best Information Technology Institution in the Sub-Saharan Africa, had been nominated together with the University of Ghana, Legon, and the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology by the Danish Government to research into Mobile Health.

Dr Darkwa said it was important for Ghana to diversify some aspect of its educational structures at the tertiary level to meet the challenges of student intake.

He appealed to the lecturers to carry out more research to keep abreast with modern day teaching and learning to push the institution to the next level.

Mr Thomas Henaku, Chairman of the Association, said the lecturers' association was formed to air their concerns to the authorities and also helped to develop the entire university community.

He said the Association also aims to bridge the communication gap between the university authorities, staff and students, which he believed would create peaceful atmosphere for teaching and learning. Dr Darkwa swore into office the five-member executive with Mr Thomas Henaku as Chairman and Mr Ganyo Amegashie as Secretary. 2 April 11