The College of Agriculture and Natural Sciences, (CAN) has embarked on an outreach programme to educate students in some Senior High Schools (SHS) in the Central Region on academic prospects in the College. Schools that benefitted from the outreach programme by the College were, Gomoa SHS, Apam SHS, Methodist SHS and Ekumfi SHS. The Chairman of the Outreach Committee, Dr. Victor Y. A. Barku noted that the programme was aimed at providing information on the various programmes students could pursue at the three Schools of the College. He stressed that “We are in your school to help you make the right decisions in the selection of programmes at the University level.” Dr. Barku also explained that the College as part of its mandate to train scientists for the development of the country instituted the outreach programme to inspire  SHS students especially ladies, to pursue cutting edge science related programmes in the University of Cape Coast (UCC). He said the University has state-of-the-art facilities and a congenial environment that promote teaching and learning. Other members of the team were Dr. Andreas Adutwum Kudom of the School of Biological Sciences; Mr. Lawrence Acheampong of the School of Agriculture, Mr. Ebenezer Tachie of the School of Physical Sciences and Mr. Alfred Ghartey, a Junior Assistant Registrar at the College. Each of the team members made presentation on the programmes and facilities at their respective Schools as well as job prospects for students after graduation. Mr. Ghartey also gave an overview of UCC and the general admission requirement. He announced that UCC has given opportunity to final year students in SHS to purchase admission forms pending the release of their examination results by the West African Examination Council (WAEC). The headmasters of the various schools visited thanked the team for bringing such valuable information to their doorsteps and indicated that their students have been encouraged to put in more effort in the upcoming West African Senior High School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) in order to gain admission to the University.    

Teach for Ghana (TFG), a leadership organisation that focuses on recruitment and training of graduates to teach pupils in deprived schools in the country has expressed interest in collaborating with the University of Cape Coast College of Distance Education (CoDE).

Speaking at a meeting with top management of CoDE, a representative of TFG, Mr. Daniel Dotse who led two other officials said the organisation was interested in providing quality educational opportunity to children in the country. He explained that TFG recruit the most promising graduates and young professionals from varied disciplines to teach in Ghana’s underserved communities through a highly selective, two-year fellowship. He said alumni of the programme build on their classroom experience to effect systematic changes wherever they find themselves.

Mr. Dotse noted that as part of their effort to achieve this important mandate, TFG would need the assistance of UCC to create tailor-made teacher certificate programmes for the recruited graduates. He also added that “we want UCC to join us in leading this innovative model of chance in Africa and expand the network of world-class teachers across Ghana.”

The Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Prof. George K. T. Oduro who chaired the meeting said he was excited about the organisation’s passion to improve the standard of education in the country through teacher education. He noted that their mandate was in line with the Vice-Chancellor’s agenda of partnering with academic institutions and other organisations to influence quality education. He added that a team from CoDE would hold discussions with officials from TFG to identify specific areas for the collaboration before a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) could be signed.

Also present at the meeting was the Provost of the CoDE, Prof. John Nelson Buah. Other members of the TFG team were Carolina Ramirez and Yaba Haffar.

The Centre for International Education (CIE), has organised the first Study Abroad Fair at the Student Representative Parliament Grounds, North Campus. The one-day Fair was intended to create awareness about opportunities available to students in the University of Cape Coast partner institutions outside Ghana.   Students who patronised the fair interacted with staff of CIE on the application procedures for the student exchange programme.  Some students who have participated in previous study abroad programmes in UCC’s partner institutions were also present to share their experiences and the benefits they gained.  

Northern Consortium, United Kingdom (NCUK), has expressed interest to partner the University of Cape Coast to facilitate training and admission of students to universities in the United Kingdom. This came to light when the Marketing Development Executive of NCUK, Mr. Andrew Straughan interacted with management and some heads of Department on the activities of NCUK at the Academic Board Chamber, North Campus. Mr. Straughan said NCUK offers “pathway programmes” to students worldwide who wish to study at undergraduate and postgraduate level in the UK and globally. He indicated that over 23,500 NCUK students had been assisted to progress onto degree courses through their world-class programmes. He further noted that NCUK is a unique organisation because it was founded by 11 leading UK universities. The Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Prof. George K. T. Oduro who chaired the meeting said as part of its Internationalisation agenda, UCC has opened its doors for partnerships that would contribute to sharing and advancing knowledge help society. He said the partnerships arrangement would be referred to the Centre for International (CIE) for further discussions. Present at the meeting were some Provosts of College, Deans of Faculty/ Schools, Directors and Heads of Department.