The Directorate of Research, Innovation and Consultancy (DRIC) has held discussions with the Open University of United Kingdom, to find potential areas of collaborations.

The discussion will also pave way for the two Universities to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). Again, the partnership, will design an innovative approach to strengthen school leadership for systematic change across Ghana.

The project will examine school leadership preparation, induction, and continuous professional development (CPD) across the existing educational structure. It will research the role and impact of leaders and the contribution of strong school leadership to strenghtening capacity in educational provision and learning attainment. The focus of the project will be on school leadership for learning - championing every child’s learning of foundational skills, regardless of gender, ethnicity and background. It will help strengthen governance and accountability for improved teaching and learning, working with appropriate institutions, especially faith-based organisations and community groups, as key stakeholders in Ghana’s education sector.

The partnership will also facilitate a series of collaborative learning events –fora for change - to generate locally-relevant ideas on pedagogical leadership and school improvement. The project will involve individuals who are key to success by testing, learning and adapting, and working with local reformers to solve problems, with careful consideration of the socio-political economy.

It would be recalled that the Associate Head of School, Dr. Eric Addae-Kyeremeh and the Programme Leader for Taught Postgraduate Studies, Dr. Jane Cullen of OU, last year called on the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Joseph Ghartey Ampiah, on possibility of entering into MoU with UCC. The visit was part of research collaboration that the two academics were undertaking with Dr. Might Kojo Abreh on “Teacher education via distance education.” Speaking at the meeting, Dr. Jane Cullen said, “The opportunity for an MoU between UCC and OU would provide many avenues for mutually beneficial collaboration: on large-scale projects, joint staff development and developing new pedagogies.”

Present at the meeting were, Research Fellow at Centre for Educational Research, Evaluation and Development (CERED), Dr. Might Kojo Abreh, The Director of CERED, Dr. Mark Amponsah and Dr. Mrs. Marie Efua Bakah and Dr. Michael Boakye-Yiadom both of the Institute of Educational Planning and Administration (IEPA). Others were Associate Head of School (Innovation):Education; Childhood, Youth and Sports of Open University, Mrs. Millicent Aning-Agyei of DRIC, Senior Institutional Fundraiser of International Development Office of Open University, Tom Bartram, and Director of Institute of Education of UCC, Prof. Frederick Ocansey.  

Credit: Henordzi Junior (Intern)

The National Council of the Distance Students’ Association of Ghana (DESAG) has paid a courtesy call on the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Joseph Ghartey Ampiah, at the Council Chamber, South Campus.

 Led by the National President, George Amenyo, the visit was to interact with the Vice-Chancellor and also introduce members of the Council. The National Council of DESAG comprises National Executives and Regional Presidents.

 Speaking at the meeting, Mr. Amenyo on behalf of the Council commended the Vice-Chancellor and Management of the University for recognising DESAG and also given the association opportunity to be part of decision-making. He said DESAG would continue to engage Management through dialogue to address concerns of its members. “As students, we need to use the laid down communication channels to seek amicable solutions to our grievances and we are also willing to learn from your rich leadership experiences,” he noted.

 Mr. Amenyo used the opportunity to bring to the attention of the Vice-Chancellor one major challenge Distance Students were facing. He said most of the students have complained bitterly about the Student Information System (UCOSIS) which according to him was causing a lot of inconveniences to them. “Some of our students do not see their results when they check from the UCOSIS,” he indicated. He appealed to the Vice-Chancellor to intervene and resolve the issue since most of the Distance Students were mounting pressure on the executives.

 On his part, the Vice-Chancellor thanked DESAG National Council for the visit and indicated that management would continue to improve on the services of the College of Distance Education to make the stress students sometimes go through a thing of the past.. He said the Distance Students were encountering challenges with the UCOSIS because they were migrated unto the platform during the 2017/2018 academic year. “I am told some of your people were not properly registered and this has also contributing to the problem you are facing” he explained.

 Prof. Ampiah informed them that UCC has been operating the UCOSIS for 18 years and therefore, the Directorate of Academic Affairs (DAA) and Directorate of Information Communications and Technology Services (DICTS) would resolve the problems very soon. “I will ask them to put a team together so that they can come over to your centres to address your concerns with the UCOSIS,” he assured them.

 The Vice-Chancellor announced the restructuring of CoDE, saying, “we will soon phase out all the current programmes and introduce the same programmes that the regular students are doing on distance”. He said a Restructuring Implementation Committee had been inaugurated to start the process. He further explained that “we will improve the system by integrating ICT into distance education and creating virtual classrooms so that the face-to-face contacts will be reduced to the barest minimum”.

 With the restructuring in place, the Vice-Chancellor said Distance Students would get the opportunity to pursue any programme of their choice since most of the programmes on the regular mode would be mounted on the distance mode. He stated that the new arrangement meant that students on the distance programmes would access lessons through their smart phones or computer laptops. “If we give ourselves within a year, we should see a drastic improvement of our distance programme,” he averred.

 Prof. Ampiah thanked the DESAG President assured the other members of the Council that Management would continue to interact with them to provide excellent services to Distance Students.

The 5th edition of the University Basic Schools Sports Association (UBaSSA) Games has been held at a grand ceremony at the Cape Coast Sports Stadium.

The Games which brought together basic schools from the host, University of Cape Coast; University of Ghana, University of Mines and Technology and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology was on the theme, “Developing a Disciplined Personality through Sports, the Role of UBaSSA”.

Events for the three-day games include, football and athletics.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, the Provost of the College of Agriculture and Natural Sciences, Prof. Livingstone K. Sam-Amoah, in a speech read  on behalf of the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Joseph Ghartey Ampiah, commended the foresight of the originators of the UBaSSA Games for introducing the games into the calendar of the Basic Schools. He noted that the games have the potential of facilitating the attainment of national development goals in many respects and not limited to academics and sports promotion. “UBaSSA enhances individual discipline hence, nurturing responsible adulthood and serves to promote health and wealth creation” he indicated.

Prof. Ampiah further noted that the games would continue to foster peace and build relationship in many ways as citizen of Ghana. He said it would contribute to the revival of national academics and sports in the second cycle schools as well as the universities.  “I’ve come to understand that one reason sports is considered a discipline is because it requires discipline to engage in it.”

The Vice-Chancellor was hopeful that the competing schools though very young in age have been taught to compete according to the rules of the game. He was of the expectation that the events outlined for the games would help foster healthy relations among the pupils, teachers, coaches and other stakeholders.

In her welcome address, the Chairperson for the UBaSSA, Mrs. Georgina Aglobitse, said the participation of the four schools in the various events would help deepen the collective resolve to achieve greater things. “As our common interest, we are looking forward to having more collaboration among Basic Schools in the areas of curriculum development, staff development and other academic related issues that will enhance effective teaching and learning in our schools,” she noted.

Mrs. Aglobitse explained that the purpose for the games was to give special recognition to uncommon abilities of pupils by celebrating skills and talents through games and sports activities for both Primary and Junior High levels. She said the games were specifically, to offer a unique opportunity to unearth, develop and showcase various skills and talents for a better future.  According to her “the theme accentuate the fact that globally, education and sports are considered as key to human development, economic prosperity and a vital instrument for combating disease, poverty, ignorance and  for promoting sustainable development”.

Mrs. Aglobitse who is the Head of the University Primary School, said the benefits of sports and games could not be overemphasized stressing that “I believe that this event is capable of encouraging and motivating children to discover the greatness in them, boost their confidence and help them to aspire to achieve greater heights in life”.

The opening ceremony witnessed a thrilling performance from the University Basic School Cadet Corps and Regimental Band. Featuring at the ceremony were acrobatic display by UCC Junior High and Primary Schools.

The Cape Coast Stadium agog when UCC JHS scored against KNUST JHS in the opening football match which ended in a penalty kick out after the official 60 minutes play.

In addition, UCC won the medley event held during the first half of the football match.  

Two officials from the San Diego State University have called on the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Joseph Ghartey Ampiah at the Council Chamber, South Campus.

The two officials were the Director, Division of Research Affairs, Prof. Dena Plemmons, and Assistant Dean for Student Affairs, Dr. Estralita Martin.

Explaining the purpose for the visit, the Head of the Department of Community Medicine, Dr. Sebastian Eliason, said the two officials would want to collaborate with UCC School of Medical Sciences (UCCSMS) to send their students to undertake research in Public Health in Ghana. He indicated UCCSMS through the Community Based Experience Service (COBES) programme has a strong community orientation for its students adding that “the collaboration will help our students to also learn and share their experiences from the students from San Diego”.

On her part, Prof. Plemmons said San Diego had received a training grants through a project known as Minority Health and Health Disparities International Research Training Programme (MHRIT). She said the project supported specific Science Students to conduct research in developing countries.

Prof. Plemmons noted that the project was to help them gain experience in research and expose them to Public Health systems in other settings. “We intend to encourage them to pursue postgraduate studies with a strong research background,” she noted. She indicated that the students would spend 10 days conducting research on Public Health issues in Ghana and, therefore, called for the support of UCC to enable them send some students next year.

Responding, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Joseph Ghartey Ampiah, said it collaboration was important for the growth and development of universities. He said through the collaboration, the two universities could learn, share experiences and conduct joint research together. “No university is an Ivory Tower globally so there is the need to collaborate and learn best practice from others to continue to make your institution relevant,” he noted.

Prof. Ampiah said UCC was ready to partner San Diego University and was hopeful that the collaboration would be beneficial to both institutions. He was hopeful that a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) would soon be signed to operationalize the collaboration.

Present at the meeting were the Registrar, Mr. John Kofi Nyan; Ag. Director of Public Affairs, Major Kofi Baah-Bentum and Assistant Registrar at UCCSMS, Mr. Alexander Danso.