There were spontaneous murmurings with disappointment at the 54th congregation of the University of Cape Coast (UCC) when it was announced that a whopping 4,072 graduands fell within the ‘pass’ category.

The figure, announced by Professor Johnson Nyarko Boampong, the Vice Chancellor of the University, represents 33 per cent of the graduands of the College of Distance Education (CoDE).

It is unclear the cause of the large number in that category but like some students, the Vice Chancellor, without direct reference to the performance, admitted that there had been some challenges.

A total of 12,325 students from all of the school’s centres of distance education, who completed in the 2020/2021 academic year, graduated with degrees and diplomas in various disciplines at the fifth session of the 54th congregation.

Of the number, 246 students had first class; 1,730 were in the second upper division; 2,972 were in the second lower division, while 3,301 had third class.

Some of the graduands the Ghana News Agency spoke with, said the 2020/21 academic year was a difficult one due to the Covid-19 pandemic, in addition to other individual challenges.

The Chairman of the University Council, Prof Obeng Mireku, declared the students duly graduated at the colourful ceremony on Friday.

Mr Latif Abdul Ishaq was adjudged the Overall Best Graduating Student and Best Graduating Student of Bachelor of Education.

Seventeen other graduands, who distinguished themselves in the various disciplines, received special awards including cash amounts, plaques, and waiver on tuition for their master’s programmes.

Prof Boampong, in an address, highlighted the national and global achievements of the school, indicating that the UCC was committed to productive learning outcomes and producing relevant human resources for emerging markets.

It was the vision of CoDE to deliver quality distance education in Ghana and beyond and critical for the College to expand its operations and services across Ghana and other African countries.

Already, UCC had signed a Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) with some universities in Africa for the expansion.

“The college is in the process of establishing a world-class e-learning studio to engage in technology-driven education for both local and international students,” he said.

The Vice Chancellor said the school was working to complete it training and resource centre at Agona Nyakrom in the Central Region and a service centre at Dominase in the Ashanti Region to create more room for distance education.

The CoDE is working to eliminate some obstacles of academic work by digitalising its modules to enable easy access by students.

“This means that students can access the softcopies of their modules,” he said.

“We believe that this will help in maintaining an effective and smooth academic calendar to enable students to go through their programmes and graduate in record time.”

Prof Boampong announced the introduction of a tracker service by the College to enhance service delivery to students, alumni, and all stakeholders.

However, he expressed worry that a fund established to support brilliant but needy students was underutilised as students applied for less than the allocated slots last year and urged students to take advantage of the opportunity.

He commended the graduands for defying all odds to successfully complete their programmes and encouraged them to use the knowledge and skills acquired to better the lot of society.

Madam Esther Imbeah, a graduand with second class lower in Educational Psychology, shared her excitement for completing her course successfully.

She said many challenges took a toll on her cademic activities, including the Covid-19 pandemic, which delayed the studies of her course mates for two years.

“It was tedious but we have tried. We spent close to four years before we finished with the degree after diploma. I am very happy I have finally graduated today,” she stated.

When asked of her views on the large passes, she attributed the situation to a myriad of obstacles including work and parental duties, which some students might have been dealing with.