The University of Ghana, has received more financial aid from individuals and organizations in local and international front, to support needy students and facilitate academic activities.

The World Bank has selected the university to receive $16 million to establish the West Africa Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens.

The amount is also meant to build up a West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement into an African Centre for Excellence, to train plant breeders, seed scientists and seed technologists.

Vice Chancellor, Professor Ernest Aryeetey, announced this at the March 2014 graduating ceremony for 2,534 students at various levels of the University at the weekend.

He said the Christian Health Association of Ghana in collaboration with DFID has provided GHS25,000 to the University to provide dissertation grants to master students carrying out research on topics related to mental health.

The College of Agriculture and Consumer Sciences has also received scholarship awards totalling GHS40,000 from the A.G. Leventis Foundation for post graduate students at the college, he said.

According to the Vice Chancellor, the Foundation has been supporting students at the University for the past 25 years.

He also said the Students Financial Aid Office continued to receive donations from individuals and organizations to supplement the University’s efforts to provide assistance to students facing financial challenges.

Ecobank Ghana has presented a cheque for GHS30,000 to support needy and brilliant students, said Professor Aryeetey.

The Women Empowerment for Social Development in Africa, a non-governmental organization, has also donated GHS3,032 to cover the payment of academic and residential facility user fees, feeding, books and pocket money for a level 100 female student, he added.

On capacity building, Professor Aryeetey said, eight awards valued at GHS112,000 had been given out as PhD support grants to faculty members for the 2013-14 academic year.

He said 33 awards have been made to faculty members totalling GHS942,611.00 and since the 2008-09 academic year, GHS3,200,000 has been awarded as research grants from the University Internally Generated Funds.

According to him, the university conference grant facility has awarded 57 conference grants valued at GHS88,500 since May 2013, to provide support to senior members to attend and present papers at various conferences.

Professor Aryeetey also said work on major road construction and rehabilitation started a year ago, has now been completed, having relied on a GHS8-million bond facility.

He said it was unfortunate the aim of reducing the build-up of vehicular traffic on the campus and creating a more congenial atmosphere for academic work, suffered severe hiccups.

He said the university has since taken measures to prevent the campus from being used as a thoroughfare which would continue to remain in force.

Professor Aryeetey blamed negative publicity experienced by the university on “elements of the community who stood to lose some of their privileges and self-accorded entitlements to University of Ghana assets.”

They had become comfortable from drawing on the university’s resources without ever giving back.

He said the university community was committed to its dictum operation “let’s take our university back”.