Cape Coast, Sept. 4, GNA - A total of 791 students from less-endowed schools had been admitted into the University of Cape Coast (UCC) for the 2011/2012 academic year to pursue various programmes of study.

The figure represents 18 percent of total admissions of 4,437 into the University, Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, Vice-Chancellor (VC) of the UCC made this known on Saturday at a matriculation ceremony at the University.

They were admitted into the Schools of Business, Graduate Studies and Research, Physical Sciences, Medical Sciences as well as the Faculty of Education, Arts and Social Sciences. Of the figure, 3,972 would study undergraduate programmes while 422 would undertake Masters programmes with 43 pursuing Doctor of Philosophy (PhD).

She said admissions at the undergraduate level had decreased by 12.8 per cent compared to last year's figure of 5,081 while Masters' programme had also decreased by 19 per cent but the postgraduate saw an increase of 29.8 per cent as against last year's 25.8 per cent. She regretted that female admissions decreased by 31 per cent as compared to 39 per cent last year and encouraged more females to seek admissions to ensure gender-parity.

The Vice-Chancellor announced that the UCC would remain committed to its objective of providing quality education to all Ghanaians and asked the students to be disciplined, studious and punctual to lectures, be open-minded and respect opposing views.