Cape Coast, Dec. 21, GNA-The University of Cape Coast (UCC) is to set up a committee to do a quality assurance audit of the distance education programme to assess the quality of students coming out and their effectiveness on the job market.

Reverend Professor Emmanuel Adow Obeng, Vice Chancellor announced this when the matriculation event of 6,406 fresh students, including 2,351 females from all the 10 regions in the country into the University's Distance Education Programmes on Thursday, to pursue various courses in basic education, management and commerce. He, in this regard, called for the proper coordination and monitoring of Distance Education programmes in the country to avoid duplication and sub standard perfomance and urged the government and philanthropists to support the programme to enable it to deliver. He said other areas to be audited included staff, logistics, facilities and funds, among others, adding that this was imperative because after five years into the introduction of the programme there was the need for such an assessment to help improve upon its delivery in view of the high student intake.

The current total number of distance education students countrywide is 20,500 and for the first time 38 students had been admitted to pursue Master of Education, Information Technology (IT) programmes. Rev. Prof. Obeng said to safeguard quality assurance there was the need to change from the current mode of print-based and tutorials delivery to Information Communication Technology (ICT) delivery to facilitate teaching and learning.

It was toward that direction that the university, in collaboration with ZTE, a Chinese firm is seeking funding for the construction of permanent study centres with video, teleconferencing and internet facilities to help "change the face of distance education in the country", he declared.

The Vice Chancellor underscored the importance of higher education to the achievement of national goals and called for proper strategies to be outlined and adopted to maximize its advantages. He told the students that they are expected to come out as a much more refined individuals who are critical thinkers, innovative, proactive and disciplined, with a different attitude to work and to life in general, after the end of the programme to enable them to make positive impact in the country.