The College of Education Studies (CoES) has launched an Adoption of Schools Project

themed “Community collaboration for improving the performance of schools: Our

corporate social responsibility”.

Speaking on behalf of the Vice-Chancellor, the Provost of the College of Humanities and

Legal Studies (CHLS), Professor Francis Eric Amuquandoh, expressed worry over the

decline in the performance of schools in the Central Region. He said it has therefore

become necessary for the University step in to help resolve whatever issues that are

contributing to the decline. “This will help to identify where the problem lies and help

turn the situation around so that Cape Coast and the Central Region in general will be

counted among the leaders when it comes to education.” he said.

The Provost of the College of Education Studies, Professor Ernest Kofi Davis, disclosed

that the College had adopted seventeen (17) schools made up of fourteen (14) Basic

Schools and three (3) Senior High Schools. The College has plans to adopt more schools.

The Provost therefore called on individuals and stakeholders to support the College to

expand the program. “The project is currently funded by Departments and Centres within

the College. When we get funding, we will scale it up. We appeal to funding bodies that

are interested in student learning outcomes in education to come to our aid to enable us to

scale up the project.”

The Central Regional Director of Education, Mrs Martha Owusu Agyeman, commended

the College for the impressive initiative and reiterated the commitment of the Regional

Education Office to support and help sustain the project.

The Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Johnson Nyarko Boampong has been appointed as a Governing Board Member (West Africa Region) of the Association of African Universities (AAU). The 17-Member Governing Board of the AAU was inaugurated during the extra-ordinary General Conference which was hosted virtually.

As per its constitution, the AAU concluded a process of nominations and election for the new Governing Board after the expiration of the tenure of the old Board.

The new Governing Board is mandated to implement key decisions made by the AAU General Conference, which is the highest authority of the Association responsible for determining its general policies and direction. The new Governing Board assumes office immediately.

The Association of African Universities is an international non-profit, non-governmental organization created by African Universities to promote cooperation among them on the one hand, and between them and the international academic community on the other. Created in 1967, the AAU is the voice of higher education in Africa.

The Directorate of Research, Innovation and Consultancy (DRIC) of the University of Cape Coast, has held a Public Lecture under the theme, “UCC@60 in the Horizon: Where is our Research headed?”

The Vice-Chancellor and Chairperson for the Lecture, Prof. Johnson Nyarko Boampong in an address, noted that research was an integral part of the life of every university. He said that with the University nearing 60 years since its establishment, the time was apt take a critical look at the progress and impact of its research. He mentioned that the University has also become eligible for the prestigious global Times Higher Education University Ranking.

The Guest Speaker for the Lecture was Prof. Isaac Luginaah, a Professor of Geography at the University of Western Ontario, a Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences, and a proud alumnus of UCC. Speaking on research funding in Ghana, he indicated that Ghana needed a dedicated policy for research in the country. “Due to the lack of national research frameworks, Ghanaian institutions are missing out on global funding opportunities,” he lamented.

He pointed out that for the University to become a world-class institution, it must be relevant as a national institution by showing how it serves national goals, and also build strong research systems to claim a place in a wider network. He further encouraged University Management to build more capacity of the workforce in the University to become more research-intensive.

Present at the program was the Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Dora Edu-Buandoh, Registrar, Mr. Jeff Teye E. Onyame, Director of DRIC, Prof. Frederick Ato Armah, Provosts, Deans, Directors of Directorates, faculty and staff of the University.

UCC hosts 2021 PANAFEST Colloquium

The PANAFEST Foundation in collaboration with the University of Cape Coast, and the African Heritage Studies Association (AHSA) has held a three-day PANAFEST Colloquium. The Colloquium was based on the themes, “Securing the African Family: Our Soul, Our Health, Our Wealth'', and “The Future of AHSA and The Youth in The African Liberation Movement”

In an address by the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Johnson Nyarko Boampong at the opening ceremony explained that the choice to hold the biennial colloquium was well thought out because Cape Coast had become the gateway for Africans overseas who wished to return home.

“The University of Cape Coast sits on very historic and culturally rich grounds, whose history is intrinsically connected with the histories of all African nations, the histories of the African Diaspora, and the longstanding agenda of the return home of our compatriots,” he said.

He indicated that the University of Cape Coast was collaborating with the African Heritage Studies Association to turn the Centre for African and International Studies into an Institute of Excellence for the Study of Africa and also rename the Centre for the originator of African studies after Dr John Henrik Clarke.

He said, “Moving forward, whilst UCC becomes the centre of choice on the continent for the study of Africa, we will also institute programmes and policies that will solidify Africa’s connections with her branches overseas, such as the Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and other institutions that have cultural ties to the Motherland.”

The Chairman of the Colloquium, Prof. Kwadwo Opoku Agyemang also gave a background history on the PANAFEST celebration. He pointed out that the Pan African Historical Theater Festival had been described as “the grandest artistic vision for uplifting and reuniting African peoples through the arts''.

He further explained that the Colloquium was a deliberative forum that was intended to carve out nurturing spaces for all members of the African family to speak with each other.  even as they dialogue with the world at large.

“This doesn’t mean that we will always agree on the way forward. But it does mean that here, finally, in the African home that we can all share, through the thick and thin of our history, we are home at last and engaging fruitfully with each other, celebrating the gains and wrinkles of our worth for all our sakes, and fretting our future together,” he added.

Giving the keynote address themed Soul to Soul: Pan-African Joy and the Power of the Arts, was Dr Tstsi Jaji, an Associate Professor of English at Duke University.

She noted that Soul to Soul was still relevant, as an essential reference point for the joys and pleasures of cultural encounters and artistic collaborations between Africans on the continent and in the diaspora.

Present at the ceremony were the Registrar, Mr Jeff Teye Nyame, Members of the PANAFEST Foundation, the President, Vice-President, and members of the African Heritage Studies Association, Members of the Local Organising Committee of PANAFEST 2021, Colloquium Planning Committee, Staff, and students of the University.