Regional News of Monday, 19 April 2021

Source: GNA

E.P College of Education institutes scholarship scheme for students

One Master Wisdom Azaglo was adjudged the college's overall best student One Master Wisdom Azaglo was adjudged the college's overall best student

Dr. Dickson Tsey Principal, Evangelical Presbyterian College at Amedzofe has announced that the College has established a scholarship scheme for students.

He said the scheme approved by the Academic Board of the College was aimed at motivating students to aspire to academic excellence.

Dr. Tsey who disclosed this at the 14th Congregation of the College said the scheme would start effective next academic year and appealed for support from all including; corporate bodies and benevolent organisations to sustain it.

He said the scholarship, which may come in the form of non-payment of academic fees was to create a competitive academic environment among students to win laurels for themselves and the College, he added.

The Principal also disclosed that plans to introduce early grade courses in the 2021/ 2022 academic year were advanced as the Academic Board of the College had already endorsed it and the implementation process underway.

He said the establishment of the course was to support the government's agenda of training more qualified professional teachers to teach at the Preschool levels and also positioned the College as a centre in Early Childhood Training besides French and music.

With support from Transforming Teacher Education and Learning (T-TEL) and the Ministry of Education, management has provided reliable two separate WIFI connectivity for use on campus, he added.

He said the WIFI would help both staff and students to conduct effective and proper research in various areas regarding academic work to enhance teaching and learning.

On student enrollment for the 2020/2021 academic year, the Principal said it attracted 371 fresh students, an increase of 28.33 per cent, the highest since the establishment of the institution in 1946.

“In an attempt to have a regional balance, Management admitted qualified applicants from 11 out of the 16 regions of the country for the 2020/2021 academic year, he said, and expressed hope to increase it to cover the rest of the regions.

Madam Elizabeth Ohene, Senior Advisor, Office of the President, said the performance of the country in the area of Mathematics and French was not encouraging and called for drastic measures to address the situation.

“It is a disgrace that we in Ghana are surrounded by French-speaking countries and we cannot speak French, whereas our neighbours can all make their way in English,” she lamented.

Madam Ohene said there should be a re-look at the way mathematics and French were taught in schools in the country, saying, “there is a problem with the way we teach mathematics in our schools and there is certainly a problem with the way we teach French in our schools.”

The Senior Advisor called on teachers handling those subjects to desist from making them look difficult to students as that could discourage them from showing interest in the subjects and thereby refuse to study them.

“I have a theory, the French teachers, like the mathematics teachers, want their subjects to be seen as difficult that can only be studied by Einstein's,” she said.

She asked the teachers to encourage the students and adopt interactive methods in handling the subjects to make them appealing to the students to develop an interest in studying them.

A total of 206 students graduated with Diploma in Basic Education, with two obtaining First Class, 73 Second Class Upper, 85 Second Class Lower, 29 Third Class while 17 Passed.

Master Wisdom Azaglo, was adjudged the overall best student.