The University of Cape Coast (UCC) has graduated a total of 5,412 students of the College of Education (CoDE) at the sixth and seventh sessions of the school’s 55th congregation of the university.
The sixth session which awarded degrees and diplomas to 2,930 students was dedicated to students from the Central, Greater Accra, Northern, Savanna, North East, Upper West and Upper East Regions.
The seventh session on the other hand was dedicated to students from the Western, Ashanti, Bono, Bono East, Ahafo, Volta, Oti, Western North and Eastern Regions, graduating 2,482 students.
The well-attended ceremony saw 141 students graduating with First Class, 993 with Second Class Upper, and 1,540 with Second Class Lower.
In the Third Class and Pass categories, there were 1,410 and 1,328 students, respectively.
Mr Abraham Joseph Kwesi Bentil, an Educational Psychology student, emerged as the overall best-graduating student while Ms Augustina Asenso, also a student of Educational Psychology, was adjudged the best female graduating student.
Awards including cash prizes, plaques, and scholarships were given to some 13 deserving graduands from various disciplines.
Professor Johnson Nyarko Boampong, the Vice Chancellor of UCC, congratulated the students and expressed confidence that they had been adequately prepared to contribute to the development of society.
“Although the competition may be keen, you have been empowered with the appropriate knowledge, character formation, integrity and practical skills to be successful,” he stated.
Touting the school’s celebrated academic standing, he noted that their academic programmes were reviewed regularly to respond to national needs.
“Our training activities are relevant at each point in time,” he stressed while commending and expressing gratitude to all stakeholders for their contributions to the success of (CoDE) and the achievements of the students.
Prof Boampong reiterated the College’s commitment to delivering quality distance education in Ghana and beyond, indicating that they were actively working to reach other countries.
“We have signed Memoranda of Understanding with some universities in other African countries for effective takeoff,” he said.
He added that: “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.”
In furtherance of delivering on its mandate, the Vice Chancellor noted that CoDE was implementing a service charter aimed at introducing fast service delivery to students and all stakeholders of the college
Among other benefits, he said the charter had eliminated the traffic that applicants of various documents encountered due to manual handling, and inconsistencies in recipients’ address systems and points of collection.
Prof Boampong further observed that a funding facility instituted for needy but brilliant students was underutilised by students of distance education.
He, therefore, urged qualified students to take advantage of the facility.
Prof Obeng Mireku, Chairman of the University’s Council, entreated the graduands to apply their knowledge and skills with discipline and diligence to guarantee them success.
“Go the extra mile in everything you do to excel,” he said adding that “refrain from anything that will bring the school’s name into disrepute.”