A Clinical Psychologist and Suicidologist at the University of Ghana, Dr. Joseph Osafo, has asked faculty and students to venture into suicide research in order to curb the rising spate of suicide in the country.

“You can only intervene in suicide prevention when you have your own country specific data”, he said.

Dr. Osafo was addressing a three-day suicide awareness and prevention crusade organised by the Counselling Centre on the theme “Reaching out: Preventing Suicide, Saving Lives.” The programme was aimed at creating awareness about suicide with the view to preventing its occurrence in the University community and its environs.

According to him, the lack of research in suicide, mainly in low and middle income countries which usually record high cases of the menace, was undermining the efforts at preventing suicide in the country.  He disclosed that the estimated rate of suicide in Ghana was 3.1 % and charged everybody, especially the non-professionals in Couselling, to strive hard to get a little knowledge in suicide prevention. “For suicide prevention: You don’t necessarily need to be a professional to begin. You simply get the knowledge”, Dr. Joseph reiterated.

Furthermore, he said people usually resort to suicide as the last straw largely to seek solution to their unanswered problems. The Clinical Psychologist and Suicidologist identified three levels of suicide repulsion within the society as family/ community, religious groups and the law. He stated, “The family accuses members of tarnishing its image, whilst the church creates impression of members transgressing against God and the law also prosecute citizens for attempting to commit suicide.”

Since 2012, according to him, he had made significant efforts to persuade some judges on the need not to pass judgement on accused persons brought before them for attempted suicide. “ I don’t see the sense in punishing someone who is in distress. They need support; they don’t need judgement”, he pointed out. He mentioned academic problems, impulsiveness, hopelessness, depression and poverty as psychological factors that make people sometimes commit suicide.

Dr. Osafo advised the audience to support suspected suicidal persons to see professional counsellors for help. He advised the students to stay away from dangerous weapons when thoughts of committing suicide beckoned on them. He added that “You don’t need any sophistication to intervene in human crisis. All you need is a good heart, the readiness and the willingness”.

The Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Joseph Ghartey Ampiah, in a speech read on his behalf, said that suicide prevention and suicidal behaviour was a key priority for the University. In line with this, he tasked the Counselling Center to deliver initiatives that would foster resilience and strengthen student relationships through Couselling and other strategies to improve mental health.

Prof. Ampiah commended the Centre for its decision to adopt the evidence-based approach recommended by the World Health Organisation to reduce suicide risk within the society. He hoped that the Centre would provide effective mental health and suicide prevention training, as well as the creation of a supportive environment, which would enable both staff and students to fulfil their potential and cope with life’s challenges. The Vice-Chancellor challenged the University community, staff of the Couselling Centre and all the psychologists in the University to research into depression and suicide.

The Dean of Educational Foundations, Prof. Eric Nyarko-Sampson, who chaired the seminar, encouraged the public to propagate the suicide prevention crusade across the country.

Unibank has donated an amount of GH¢20,000  to support the College of Humanities and Legal Studies First College–Industry week activities.
 
The week activities which were held from 3^rd– 9^th March, 2018 on the theme “Linking Academia to Industry.”
 
The cheque was presented by Mr. Eugene Amoa, Cape Coast Branch Manager of Unibank,  and Mr. David Boakye, the Relationship Manager. The Branch Manager congratulated the provost for her initiative. He was of the opinion that the theme for the week celebration was appropriate and timely.
 
Receiving the cheque, the Provost of the College of Humanities and legal studies, Prof, Dora F. Edu-Buandoh, expressed gratitude to Unibank for its generosity to the College. She explained that the College week was the first of its kind in the University.
 
Dr. Abigail Opoku-Mensah, Head of the Department of Management, informed the sponsors that the activities for the next college week would be much bigger. She was hopeful that other sponsors will come on board to support this laudable initiative of the provost.


Credit:CHLS

The Graduate Students Association of Ghana, (GRASAG) UCC chapter, has launched its Silver Anniversary at a ceremony on campus.

Addressing the students, the Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Prof. George K. T. Oduro, commended GRASAG for producing high calibre human resources who were contributing meaningfully to the development of the nation in all sectors of the Ghanaian economy.

Prof. Oduro entreated the government and other stakeholders to support private organisations to help curb unemployment since it had become a threat to national security. He said government must support research-based education which according to him was key to addressing the country’s socio-economic needs. He also called on government to strategise and put in place systems that would support graduates to create jobs

Prof Oduro identified unemployment as the major frustration that had forced the youth to engage in all sort of activities that contradicts the nation’s moral values. He stressed on the need to focus on research to solve the unemployment of the youth.

The Pro-Vice-Chancellor challenged the University to consider restructuring its curriculum and delivery mode to a more student-centered approach. He was confident that GRASAG-UCC as part of its 25^th Anniversary celebration would devote time to reflect and make recommendations to the Ministry of Education and other stakeholders on how postgraduate education could be modified to meet current needs.

The Dean of the School of Graduate Studies, Prof. Ernest Laryea Okorley, who chaired the function, noted that graduate education was very relevant to the development of the country. He called on the students to make good use of their knowledge so that society would benefit from the training they had received. “You are enjoying what others have suffered so you need to make good use of the knowledge bequeathed to you” he advised.

Prof Okorley called on universities to prioritise and produce graduates who would address specific critical needs of the country.  He said “We need to make a conscious effort to make graduate education entrepreneurial and employable” adding that the courses should be more practical.

The President of GRASAG, Mr. Benjamin Sundeme, paid glowing tribute to the forebears of the association for the sacrifices they made to ensure that postgraduate education received the necessary attention in decision making in the country. He traced the history of the association to the 1990s where graduate students mounted pressure on  authorities  of the existing three public universities thus, University of Ghana, Legon, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and University of Cape Coast to form GRASAG. He said GRASAG was formed with the objective of safeguarding the academic, social, religion and general wellbeing of postgraduate students.  “It is worth mentioning again that, it all started with three universities but today, it is a pride to announce that GRASAG has 14 registered local branches and still counting, and this is how far we have come in 25 years,” he stated.

He called on government to provide the need support to make postgraduate education in the country one of the best in the continent adding that “despite the contributions made by postgraduate students themselves to improving conditions for studies, the contributions and support from successive governments of Ghana to the quality of postgraduate studies is imperceptible” He reminded government that the “Ghana aid” mantra could only be realized if more attention was placed on promoting  research for  nation building.

The President of GRASAG also appealed to the private sector to assist government to reduce the level of unemployment by engaging the services of graduate students. He further advised graduates who were unemployed to reorient their mindset bearing in mind that the era of white collar jobs was no more.

Other activities for the GRASAG Silver Anniversary are Donation to Aboom Special School, Entrepreneurial Clinic/Career Talk, Health Walk, Prostate Cancer Screening/Blood donation, Home Coming and Grand Durbar.

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CALL FOR PAPERS

The SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES, UCC in collaboration with the Graduate Students Association of Ghana (GRASAG),

UCC, Vodafone Ghana and Atlantic FM announces an international conference on postgraduate education and research to

take place at the University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana from June 12 -14, 2018.

THEME:

CHANGING THE ORIENTATION OF POSTGRADUATE EDUCATION FOR THE 21^st CENTURY

SUB-THEME:

• JOB CREATION AND MOTIVATION
• IMPROVING EMPLOYABILITY
• RESOURCE MOBILIZATION FOR GRADUATE EDUCATION
• INNOVATION IN THE TEACHING/LEARNING ACTIVITIES
• IMPROVING LEADERSHIP
• NEW PARADIGMS IN SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

KEYNOTE ADDRESS

PROF. GEORGE K. T. ODURO

TITLE: CHANGING THE ORIENTATION OF POSTGRADUATE EDUCATION FOR THE 21^st CENTURY

LEAD PAPER

PROF JOPHUS ANAMUAH-MENSAH

TITLE: MOBILIZING RESOURCES FOR POSTGRADUATE WORK: HUMAN, MONETARY AND MATERIALS

CHAIRMAN

VICE CHANCELLOR, UNIVERSITY OF CAPE COAST

EXPECTED PARTICIPATION

The conference will have Oral and Poster Presentations. While this conference is targeted at Postgraduate students and Faculty,

industry professionals with interest in Postgraduate education are welcome to attend.

ABSTRACT SUBMISSION GUIDELINES AND DEADLINE:

• All abstracts must be written in English, not more than 250 words for both the paper and poster presentations,
• bearing the name(s) and contact addresses of the author(s).
• Abstract should be submitted to the School of Graduate Studies Official Email (graduatestudies@ucc.edu.gh) and copy to eokorley1@ucc.edu.gh and kankam.boadu@ucc.edu.gh.
• Deadlines for Submission of Abstract: FRIDAY 11^TH May, 2018.

       Publications: Electronic copies of the book of abstract and conference proceedings shall be available to all registered participants

                             and articles of good qualities shall be published in reputable international journals in the University of Cape Coast.

* AWARD WILL BE GIVEN TO BEST ORAL AND POSTER PRESENTERS.

REGISTRATION AND CONFERENCE FEE:

• Local participants will pay GH¢ 40 for each abstract submitted for review
• International participants will pay USD 15 for each abstract submitted for review
• The cost of accommodation and transport are not included in the conference fee. Participants should arrange their own accommodation and traveling services on and around campus to meettheir own needs, preferences and budget.
• Participants will be provided with conference materials, snack and lunch during the period.

BANK DETAILS:

• Bank Name:National Investment Bank, Cape Coast Branch.
• Account Name: School of Graduate Studies
• Account Number: 1111000120801; Swift Code: NIBGGHAC (Applicants Outside Ghana Only)

FOR FURTHUR ENQUIRIES, REGISTRATION &SUBMISSION CONTACT

+233 244708348

+233 242584136

+233 207783951

+233 208728624 (Accommodation)

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