A durbar of Parents/Guardians, teachers and invited guests have witnessed a colourful matriculation ceremony to induct the first-year students numbered about 680 into the fold of the Presbyterian Training College Community.

Present to grace the occasion was the Special Guest of Honour, the Municipal Chief Executive of Akuapem North, Barima Awuah Sarpong Asiedu-Larbi.

In his goodwill message, the MCE charged the new students to burn the midnight candle so as to come out with flying colours as four (4) years was just a short spell of time.

He explained that the students had been initiated into the teaching profession and that they did not err at all to have chosen such a noble art.

He encouraged the entrants on in their quest to seek academic excellence in the field of teaching as other professionals such as doctors, lawyers, engineers and many others had all confessed that without teachers, they could not have been where they are today.

According to him, His Excellency, President Akufo-Addo restored the teacher and nursing training allowances to address financial challenges that usually confronted students and urged them to justify government’s continued spending on them.

Barima Awuah Sarpong Asiedu-Larbi also said government upgrading teachers’ certificates to Degree Teaching Certificate clearly underlined the strides government has taken to upgrade the teaching profession and urged them to accept the current Teacher Licensing Examination as a new order to develop the teaching profession.

On the coronavirus pandemic, the MCE charged the fresh students to take the COVID-19 protocols seriously as failure to do so could leave ripple effects on the economy which would go a long way to hamper nation-building as a whole.

Earlier in his welcoming address, the Principal of the College, Rev. Dr Nicholas Apreh Siaw paid glowing tribute to the alumni and the people from the area for keeping the name and the flag of the school high.

Welcoming the matriculants to the fold of the school, Rev. Dr Nicholas Apreh Siaw urged them to count themselves lucky for gaining admission into the school and asked them to take their studies seriously.

He said, “Education is a time of discovery, a time to learn new things about the world and find your talents and skills especially if you exploit the holistic training of the head, heart and hand to your advantage.”

The Principal assured them the school was working tirelessly to put the teachers’ expertise and everything that would facilitate teaching and learning at their disposal but pepped them up to set high academic and ethical values for themselves.

On the upsurge in COVID-19 and staying safe on campus, he charged the students to be each other’s keeper by observing the protocols at all times and tasked them to report any suspected symptoms to the school authority for immediate assistance.