A team from the University has visited the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital Nursing and Midwifery Training College, (KATH NMTC) Kumasi, to learn at firsthand preparations being made to receive students for the Post Professional Nursing Assistant Clinical (NAC) and Nurse Assistant Preventive (NAP) Access Course.

The access course which starts from October 22 - November 3, is intended to offer another opportunity for NAC/NAP certificate holders with deficiencies in English, Mathematics and Science in the West African Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) to pass these subjects. This will enable them to qualify to enrol on the University of Cape Coast Diploma in Midwifery programme which starts from November 2018 to February 2019 for final year students currently on the NAC/NAP programme in the various Nursing and Midwifery Colleges.

 It would be recalled that the Ministry of Health and the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with UCC to design a programme to upgrade NAC/NAP certificate to diploma.

UCC Team

The team from the University comprised the Head of Institutional Affiliation Office, Mr. Justice Agyenim Boateng, Dr. Eric Koka from the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Mr. Seth Selassie Dzah and Mr Richard Sarfo-Walters  from the School of Nursing and Midwifery.

Management of KATH NMTC

Members of Management of KATH NMTC who were present at the meeting were, the Principal, Mr. Albert Opoku, the Vice Principal, Mrs. Veronica Oduro-Kwarteng; Head of Programmes, Mrs. Joana Owusu Danso and Mr. Ransford Osei - a member of the Academic Board.

Centres for Access Course

Interacting with Management of KATH NMTC, Mr. Boateng said four centres have been designated for the two-week access course nationwide. He stated that the four centres were KATH NMTC for the middle zone, Cape Coast NMTC for the Southern Zone, Tamale NMTC for the Northern Zone and Atibie NMTC for the Eastern Zone. 

Mr. Boateng explained that “KATH NMTC will host NAC/NAP final year students from nursing institutions in the Ashanti and Brong Ahafo, whiles students from institutions in theUpper East, Upper West and Northern Regions will have theirs in Tamale NMTC. Atibie Nursing and Midwifery Training College will host students for the Eastern, Greater Accra and Volta Regions whereas the Central and Western Regions will converge at Cape Coast NMTC for the Access Programme.

Post NAC/NAP Programme

Mr. Boateng said the NMC has asked the University to begin the Diploma in Midwifery programme in November for final year NAC/NAP students who would be writing the licensing examinations in February. “The NMC wants the NAC/NAP students to complete all their academic work before they write their professional examinations in February. This means that we have to ensure that we all prepare adequately for a smooth take-off of the programme,’ he implored.

Purpose of the Visit

Explaining the essence of the visit, Mr. Boateng said the team wanted to discuss challenges of the College in relation to hosting of the students for the access course and also ascertain whether KATH NMTC has enough facilities for the students to start the access course. “We have to be sure that the students enjoy a conducive academic environment for their studies”

On his part, the Principal of KATH NMTC, Mr. Albert Opoku thanked the UCC team for the visit and assured that Management of the College had made all the necessary arrangement to receive the students.

The UCC team later inspected lecture halls, laboratories, libraries, Information Communication and Technology Centre and dormitories of the College. Members were satisfied with the state of facilities and thanked Management of the College for the warm reception.

The Department of Forensic Sciences has held a stakeholders workshop to discuss a training course for personnel of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) on Forensic Fire Investigation.

The training course is aimed at equipping officers of the Ghana National Fire Service with the requisite skills to conduct forensic investigation into incidents of fire and determine the true cause of such fires.

Participants of the Workshop

Participants of the workshop were made up of a team of top officers from the National and Central Regional headquarters of GNFS, lecturers and some students of the Department of Forensic Sciences. Officers who came from the National headquarters of GNFS included DCFO Julius Kuunuor, Director of Finance and Administration; DCFO Obeng Dankwa Dwamena, Director of Human Resource, DCFO Patrick Donkor, Director of Investigations, ACFO Paa Kwesi Adutwum, Chief Staff Officer, and DOI James Oheneba Yaw Kwarteng, Staff Officer.

Lack of Expertise in Forensic Investigation

In a speech read by the Dean of the School of Biological Sciences, Prof. Justice Sarfo, on behalf of the Provost, College of Agriculture and Natural Sciences, Prof. Livingstone K. Sam-Amoah to open the workshop, he observed that it was unfortunate that the security and law enforcement agencies of Ghana had to mostly rely on foreign experts to help investigate some high level criminal activities and arson in the country. “By so doing, we do not only announce to the world that we are incapable of solving our own problems, we also freely make available to these foreign investigators pertinent national information and data that should rather be protected,” he noted.

Sophistication in  Criminal Activities

Prof. Sam-Amoah said with globalisation and technological advancements, criminals have devised means of mastering the art of committing and covering up their activities to the extent that it was becoming difficult for such crimes to be uncovered. “Our nation has witnessed several criminal cases go cold because of lack of credible evidence to continue the prosecution of such cases,” he noted. He indicated it was for that reason the University of Cape Coast in 2015 established the Department of Forensic Sciences and mandated it to train forensic experts to remediate their eminent scarcity and also to augment the justice delivery system.

UCC to Introduce MSc in Forensic Sciences

The Provost of the College of Agriculture and Natural Sciences announced that, the Department of Forensic Sciences would introduce a split-site Master of Science programme in Forensic Sciences between UCC and Gujarat Forensic Sciences University, India in the 2019/2020 academic year.  “Students who enrol on this programme will have the opportunity to study for a year in our partner institution in India and through that boost their intercultural awareness and gain access to state-of-the-art equipment to conduct research” he noted. Again the Provost said another stakeholder workshop would be held to discuss a training course in Contemporary Crime Scene Investigation for Police Officers as well as a B.Sc programme in Police Science.

GNFS Commitment to Build Capacity of Personnel in Forensic Investigation

On his part the Deputy Chief Fire Officer, Mr. Julius Kuunuor, said the current GNFS administration was determined to ensure that personnel were well developed through continuous professional training to help minimise fire outbreaks, road traffic accidents and other related incidents in the country. Mr. Kuunuor admitted that technological advancement had made firefighting and investigations more complex, hence the need to employ tact and dexterity to unravel the causes of these happenings. 

“Our hope in the long term is to encourage personnel to acquire Diploma and Degree in Forensic Science to be able to analyse and manage issues on road traffic accidents, arson and its related cases” he added. Mr. Kuunuor was grateful to the Vice-Chancellor and the Head of Department of Forensic Sciences for responding positively to their request to host the training course.

Pioneer BSc. Forensic Sciences Students Asset to Security Agencies in Ghana

The Head of the Department of Forensic Sciences, Dr. Richmond Afoakwah, introduced the six pioneer students of the Department who would be graduating in 2019. He appealed to  of the top  officers of GNFS present at the workshop to engage the services of the pioneer students after they graduate next year to help address the current challenges of investigating cases. “We are aware that over the last few years you have repeatedly advertised for Forensic Scientists to enlist in the service”, he said. “We are also aware that you have not been successful at enrolling anybody in this category. Your search is over. We have taken our time to give these students the requisite training and expertise you are looking for,” he assured.  He noted that the students would be great assets not only to GNFS but to the various security agencies in the country.

Appreciation to GNFS

Dr. Afoakwah thanked tGNFS for its determination to ensure that discussions for the short courses became a reality within the shortest possible time to allow personnel of the Service to acquire the requisite skills and knowledge in Forensic Sciences.

“In practice, most often when academia contacts industry to initiate the much touted Industry-Academia partnership, at best it ends at the initial thought and the collaborations don’t extend further to see policy being implemented. I would therefore like to express my profound appreciation to the hierarchy of the GNFS and the Chief Fire Officer in particular for his resolve to see this training course materialize” he noted.

A former lecturer of the Department of Chemistry, Dr. Owusu Akyiaw Bempah, has developed a drug known as Fenomin Tablets for treating diabetes complications.

Dr. Bempah, explained that the tablets were a formulation of vitamin B1, B2 and B5 capable of preventing complications affecting all organs in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients. Other ingredients of the tablets he mentioned were dicalcium phosphate, cellulose, silica, magnesium stearate.

He indicated that the tablets have been approved by the Food and Drugs Authority of Ghana and was available in pharmaceutical shops in the United Kingdom and other parts of Europe.

Treatment of Diabetes Complications

Dr. Akyiaw was speaking at the School of Physical Sciences Seminar Series on the topic “The Cause, Cure and Prevention of Diabetes Complications. According to him, some medical doctors were of the view that diabetes was caused by high blood glucose level and therefore, there was no cure for it. Dr. Akyiaw said reducing the risk of diabetes complication was essential because the disease could affect vital organs in the body such as the heart, brain, liver, and kidney. He said diabetes could cause painful sores on the skin and in the gum.

Give African Scientist Opportunity to Prove their Worth

The Dean of the School of Physical Sciences, Prof. David K. Essumang, who chaired the lecture commended Dr. Akyiaw for coming out with the tablets. “We need to encourage our own scientists who have developed medications to treat diseases which are known to have no cure because it is only through this means that we can confirm that the medicines are potent. Our scientists, if given the opportunity can be of great service to the world” he noted.

The School of Business (SoB) has awarded 196 students for their exceptional academic performance for the 2017/2018 academic year.

 The awardees comprised students from level 100-300 in the programmes of the School namely, BCom (Accounting), BCom (Finance), BCom(Human Resource Management), BCom (Marketing), BCom (Management) and BCom(Procurement & Supply Chain Management).

Dean's Award Ceremony

 In his address, the Dean, SoB, Prof. Edward Marfo-Yiadom, said the awards ceremony was instituted by the School in the 2008/2009 academic year to recognise and encourage high performing students who  attained Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 3.6 and above at the end of every academic year. “The list generated helps us to follow-up on the progress of our high performing undergraduate students from level 100 all the way to the completion of their programmes of study,” he noted.

 Prof. Marfo-Yiadom noted that the awardees would be presented with certificates and books from sponsors. He indicated that in addition to the general awards, the Institute of Chartered Accountants Ghana (ICAG) provided cash prizes and books to the overall best student, best female student and best student in Accounting courses from level 100-300. He announced that ICAG has offered scholarship covering registration fee, subscription and examination fees for the ICAG Professional Examinations to all awardees.

Provost of College of Humanities and Legal Studies

 The Provost of the College of Humanities and Legal Studies, Prof. Dora Edu-Buandoh, commended SoB for holding unto the tradition of the Dean’s Award ceremony. Prof. Edu-Buandoh told encouraged the students that “It is in the right direction that you’re being rewarded whiles still studying because only a few people will see what you’ve achieved during your graduation,” she said. She urged the awardees to be motivated to maintain the high academic excellence and called on other students to also put in more effort so that they could also be recognised in the next awards ceremony. “No standard is unattainable so you can also make it to the first class level,” he encouraged them.

Past Student Shares Experience with Students

A past student of SoB, Mrs. Joyce Opoku-Duodo  who gave a motivational speech said the training she received from UCC made her to be creative and determined to succeed wherever she worked. She advised the students not to despise small beginnings adding that “I began from a small firm and I was able to build on my competencies and gained a lot of experience because I was doing almost everything unlike the big Accounting and Audit Firms where you will be assigned to a specific schedule”.

Mrs. Duodu who is currently the Director of Finance and Administration of ICAG urged the students to be self-motivated and work in teams whiles on campus.

Present at the ceremony were Heads of Department and lecturers of the SoB.