The University for Development Studies (UDS), will introduce a Bachelor of Law Degree programme in the 2015/16 academic year, to expand legal education to the Northern Regions.

Dr Daniel Bagah, Dean of the School of Business and Law, told the Ghana News Agency in Tamale on Tuesday that a draft proposal had been submitted to the National Council for Tertiary Education Committee (NCTEC) for approval, after which accreditation would be sought for the Bachelor of Law programme.

He indicated that it would be mounting BA in Law and Business Studies and BSC in Law and Development Studies in the next academic year, noting that the two are among four new courses being introduced in the University. Dr Bagah was speaking to GNA on the sidelines of the UDS, signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Professor Wayne Dunn of the Corporate Social Responsibility Training Institute (CSRTI).

The CSR Training Institute is collaborating with the UDS to design training programmes that would imbibe corporate social responsibility values in individuals and organizations, to ensure the achievement of some targeted goals. The MOU, among other aims, is to develop certificates and post-graduate and PhD programmes in the field of corporate social responsibility.

Dr Bagah indicated that the UDS has adequate human resources and infrastructure to start the programme, and urged interested students to get prepared for the take-off of the programme. He lauded the CSR programme that the UDS had signed a MOU, stressing that concept notes were being put up and that some of the staff of the UDS would be trained in the course content after which it would be opened to the general public at the UDS official building in Accra.

He said the programme would be outdoored on September 18 this year in Accra to attract more people for the programme, and stressed that it would later be incorporated into the concept to mount degrees and PhDs in corporate social responsibility.

Professor Haruna Yakubu, Vice Chancellor of UDS, expressed concern about the poor value corporate social responsibility on the part of companies, and urged them to exhibit positive attitudes to promote development. He indicated that many companies in the country instead of being resourceful and deliver tangible things that would improve and enhance the living standards of communities in which they work, they rather engage in donations and beauty pageant programmes, saying, “These are things that will not help society.”

Prof. Yakubu said companies must promote the welfare of communities by providing development-oriented projects that would enhance the livelihoods of people in their geographical areas to complement the work of government. Prof Dunn who is the President and Founder of CSRTI, said the collaboration was well thought, since it intended to build the capacities and orient the corporate world in achieving its stated objectives.

He observed that corporate social responsibility was not just about donating and presenting items to communities, but creating enabling environment that would give more opportunities to people in organizations’ operational areas. Professor Dunn who is also a Lecturer at the University of McGill in Canada, said the collaboration if effectively implemented, would develop ways that businesses serve shareholders and society through innovative programmes to help people and government.