The Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Joseph Ghartey Ampiah, has inaugurated a seven-member College of Distance Education Restructuring Implementation Committee at a ceremony at the College’s Conference Room.

The Committee will oversee the implementation of the restructuring of the College of Distance Education (CoDE) to effectively provide quality Distance Education to its students. The members of the committee is made up of Prof. Stephen B. Kendie (Chairman), Prof. Edward Marfo-Yiadom, Prof. Francis Amedahe, Prof. J. K. Mintah, Mr. Jeff T. Onyame, Rev. Isaac Baafi Sarbeng and Mr. Emmanuel Aidoo (Secretary).

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, the Vice-Chancellor said the committee would work with management of CoDE to strengthen its activities. He said a committee was earlier set-up to make recommendations which was modified and approved by the Academic Board and the University Council.

Prof. Ampiah said his vision for the University included the restructuring of CoDE and the Institute of Education to deliver quality Distance Education to students.  He said Distance Education was gradually changing to Open Learning, so there was the need to improve upon the old ways of doing things.

Prof Ampiah said the University would ensure the integration of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in the delivery of quality Distance Education to its students. “Students should take the university along with them wherever they go, and not the university going to them,” he said.

The Vice-Chancellor explained that the restructuring of CoDE and the Institute of Education was one of the four key pillars of his vision for the University. “My vision for UCC is enshrined in four jackets and they include digitizing the University, strengthening research capacity by resourcing the Directorate of Research Innovation and Consultancy; intensify internationalization agenda of the University and Restructuring CoDE and Institute of Education” he explained.  He, therefore, called on management and staff of CoDE to cooperate with the committee to carry out its mandate.

The Chairman of the Committee, Prof. Stephen Kendie, said change always come with some form of resistance and challenges however, the committee would work closely with the management of CoDE to ensure that the University provided the best service to its students. “Change is universal and the world revolves around change. In business, there are new trends and new ways of doing things and in the area of education new things keep coming up”.

Prof. Kendie said “change breeds conflict as everybody is happy with the status quo” noting that “there is the need to resolve our difference to achieve the efficiency we want”. He thanked the Vice-Chancellor and assured him that they would work to successfully accomplish the task given them.

On his part, the Provost of the CoDE, Prof. Isaac K. Galyuon, said management and staff  of the College would work with the committee to ensure that it carries its mandate to the improve upon the work of CoDE in particular and the University in general.

The Directorate of Research Innovation and Consultancy (DRIC) in collaboration with the Northwestern University, United States of America, has organised a seminar on the topic “The link between household water insecurity and food insecurity in sub-Saharan Africa, and the story behind how this work was funded.”

Speaking at the seminar, Dr. Sera Young who is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Anthropology, Northwestern University, took participants through  key three areas of her research work   namely Food Insecurity, Household level Water Insecurity, and Grant Sourcing

Dr. Young noted that throughout her research, she has learnt some lessons which had helped to develop her skills to acquire grants for her works. She said the first lesson was to listen to interesting problems worth researching into. She said the problem should be peculiar to attract funding to carry out.

Dr. Young also said researchers should be able to identify funding institutions or organisations that were interested in their ideas and talk to them. She noted that most of the funding organisations have their interest and therefore, the researcher should find out whether the topic or area of study falls within their domain before sending their proposal.

Another area she noted was extremely important for sourcing for grant was to develop specific aims stressing that “you need to get your conceptual framework for the research work right”.  Dr. Young said one needed to be patient when sourcing for grant saying “It takes time, let your ideas gestate”. She said it took her about two years to secure funding for her research work on “How food insecurity may shape maternal and Child health”. She, therefore, reminded researchers to acknowledge the fact that “rejection is part of the process”.

 According to her, there were a number of times that her research proposal were rejected by funding organisations. She advised researchers to keep on shaping their proposals even if they were not accepted and submit them to other funding organisations. In order to avoid the unfortunate situation of rejection by funding organisations, Dr. Young advised researchers to carefully read through their  proposal before applying.

The workshop on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights of Young People has ended with stakeholders calling for the need to intensify education on sexual reproductive and rights of Young People.

Among the issues discussed were the mandates and the core objectives of the various bodies they represented at the workshop and their main activities relating to sexual and reproductive health of young people. Others were interventions developed and implemented by these bodies and their outcomes, and the sister institutions they do partner with.

The District School Health Education Programme (SHEP) Coordinator at Apam, Mrs. Asher Aba Quansah, said SHEP was a health education programme that provided health education to school children. Mrs. Quansah noted that her outfit trained teachers, children and community leaders for effective implementation of school health programmes as well as developing appropriate information, education and communication materials. They also promote habits and values of good hygiene and sanitation practices including hand washing with soap. “We also educate the children to avoid drug, alcohol, and premarital sex. That is why we talk about abstinence”, she added.

Speaking at the workshop, Sergeant Emmanuel Hubada, noted that, formerly, the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) was known as Women and Juvenile Unit (WAJU) which largely took care of women and children suffering from domestic violence but they later realised that men were being marginalized leading to the change in the name to DOVVSU. He stated that the mandate of DOVVSU was to protect the rights of women and children, arrest and prosecute perpetrators and also advise the general public on crime prevention.

He also stated that as part of their functions, they investigate all women and children related cases involving children in the domestic setting, juvenile cases, and child abuse cases among others. “DOVVSU, we are more or less gender based people. We don’t discriminate against men or women. We handle all cases involving the domestic setting be it male or female”, he added.

The DOVVSU official indicated that their major challenge was gathering of evidence and age determination for defilement cases and pointed out that they usually relied on birth certificates or weighing cards for proof of age and medical forms and in some cases witnesses.  Sergeant Hubada said that without these documents doctors could not help as they (doctors) only give the range of the age of the victims instead of their specific ages.

The Regional Director of the Department of Gender, Mrs. Thywill Eyra Kpe, said there was the need for collaboration between the Birth and Death Registry for effective record keeping which would facilitate the determination of ages.

Speaking on the role of medical doctors, Dr. Dorcas Obiri-Yeboah, of the UCC School of Medical Sciences, stated that doctors only describe their findings. She lamented that sometimes victims came to the hospital several weeks after the incident making gathering of medical evidence difficult and added that there was the need for public education.

Explaining the mandate of CHRAJ, the Assistant Registrar of CHRAJ, Raphael Mike Ocran, stated that it was established in 1992 by an Act of parliament and started official operation in 1993.

Mr. Ocran stated that it is a human right institution and handles anti-corruption cases, violation of fundamental human rights, and administrative injustice. He noted that their objective was to promote human right and protect freedom of citizens. He explained that CHRAJ does not deal with sexual right abuse issues but hand them over to the DOVVSU since they were criminal cases. He further stated that CHRAJ only mediated between victims and perpetrators but does not prosecute. “l think we are missing out on a lot of things.Both parents and teachers are not doing enough. We are too pretentious”, he lamented about the sexual and reproductive health and rights education of young people.

The  participants included the Municipal (SHEP) Coordinator for Komenda, Edina, Eguafo, Abirem (KEEA), Joyce Amuesiwah, Metropolitan SHEP Coordinator for Cape Coast, Rose Amoah, District SHEP Coordinator for Apam, Asher Aba Quansah, Inspector Hannah Kuyole and Sergeant Emmanuel Hubada of DOVVSU-Cape Coast, Assistant Registrar of CHRAJ, Raphael Mike Ocran, the District Director of Health Service –Ajumako Enyan Esiam District, Doris Ahelegbe, the District Director of Health Service – Abura Asebu Kwamankese District, Gifty Ankrah, Michael Tagoe of PPAG, Cape Coast and the Advocacy Manager – Mariestopes International, Ghana, Godfred Bonnah Nkansah.

Credit: Henordzi Junior (intern)

The Pro-Vice-Chancellor,Prof. George K. T. Oduro, has called on National Service Personnel who were posted to the University of Cape Coast for the 2017/2018 academic year to explore avenues of creating jobs for themselves after their national service period.

Prof. Oduro said the high rate of unemployment situation in the country demanded that they should not cast all their hopes on the government for job opportunities. “If any one of you have any skills, find a way of liaising with other colleagues so you can set up a small company and start something” he advised. He cited some graduates of UCC who has established their own businesses and making life out of it after their studies.

The Pro-Vice-Chancellor gave the advice when he addressed the Service Personnel at the Send-Off Programme organized by the Directorate of Human Resource. The total number of National service personnel posted to UCC for the 2017/2018 academic year was 1, 059.

Prof. Oduro urged them to also explore avenues for scholarships to upgrade themselves, especially those who do not have plans of working immediately after the national service. He advised them to make good use of the experience they had acquired during the service period, so that they could justify their worth they secure job opportunities in the near future.  Prof. Oduro expressed gratitude to them on behalf of the University Management and wished them well in their future endeavours. He congratulated them on their selfless service to the University in particular and the nation in general.

Mr. Edward Kwame Tenadu, who spoke on behalf of the National Service Personnel thanked the University Management for the opportunity to contribute towards the development of the University. He appealed to management to provide healthcare package and accommodation to National Service Personnel posted to the University. He further asked the University to liaise with the Nation Builders Corps  (NABCO) Secretariat to discuss the possibility of maintaining some of the National Service Personnel in UCC.