A colourful graduation ceremony has been held for 14,812 Distance Education graduates as part of the 50th Congregation of the University.

 The ceremony covers the 7th to 16 sessions of the 50th Congregation.

Out of the aforesaid number, 9, 361 will be awarded diplomas, while 5, 451 will be awarded degrees in the various disciplines.

 The Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Joseph Ghartey Ampiah, said this at the 8th session of the 50th congregation held for students who pursued the Diploma in Basic Education programme in   the Ashanti, Greater Accra, Volta and Central Regions.  He said judging by the numbers, there was no doubt that the University of Cape-Coast distance mode had widened access to tertiary education and afforded hundreds of qualified people the opportunity to access university education with ease.

The Vice-Chancellor lauded the joint efforts of the College of Distance Education (CoDE) and the Distance Students Association of Ghana (DESAG) for putting up a three-storey Multi-Purpose Building at the Cape Coast Centre to be used as a Child Relaxation Centre for nursing mothers and baby-sitters. He added that the facility, which is at the completion stage, was expected to bring some relief to nursing mothers on the distance education programme, to facilitate their academic work during face-to- face and end-of-semester examinations.

Prof. Ampiah noted that the CoDE and DESAG would continue to work closely to replicate similar projects in other regions. He announced that DESAG had Instituted a scholarship fund to support needy but brilliant students to successfully complete their programme.

The Vice-Chancellor indicated that the Academic Board of the University had considered a report by the committee set up to restructure the Programmes run at the College to make them more relevant and in consonance with those run at the regular mode.

According to him, implementation of the recommendations in the report would start from 2018/19 academic year. Prof. Ampiah, however, called for the cooperation of all staff of the University, especially staff members at CoDE, for a smooth implementation of the recommendations to inure to the benefit of the institution.

He further announced that following a Memorandum of Understanding signed between the University and Teach for Ghana, a non-governmental organization, the CoDE in partnership with the Teacher Professional Support Centre of the College of Education Studies and the School of Graduate Studies, had been mandated to mount and run the Post-Graduate Diploma in Education programme through distance mode for the organisation.

He expressed joy at the preparatory work that had been completed for the programme to take-off, adding that " Modules that will be needed to run the programme have been awarded on contract and some are ready for printing."  "The programme will start in Ho in the Volta Region and Tamale in the Northern Region, with the possibility of being executed to other regions in future," he continued.

 The Vice-Chancellor mentioned delays in the completion of some awarded projects and the production of modules for the students countrywide as major challenges facing the College. He, therefore, appealed to the service providers to the College to expedite work on the production of modules.

Prof. Ampiah commended module writers, Chief Examiners, Facilitators, Study Centre Coordinators and Staff of the University for sacrificing their weekends to support the activities of CoDE. Prof. Ampiah congratulated the graduands and advised them to be worthy ambassadors of the University in all their endeavours.

The Chairman of UCC Governing Council, Mrs. Nancy O. C. Thompson, reminded the graduands that  they had been equipped with the requisite knowledge and competencies required to enable them deliver at their work places. She urged them contribute significantly towards the development of society.

Find pictures of the 8th to 16th Congregation which was dedicated to graduands of the College of Distance Education here

Pictures of 9th Session here

Pictures of 10th Session here

Pictures of 11th Session here

Pictures of 12th Session here