Students of the Department of Music and Dance of the University of Cape Coast (UCC) left patrons in stitches with the thrilling performance of " Nkrumah's vision For One Africa".
The play-fused with comical characters, comedy-filled dialogues, traditional music, and dance performances such as Agbadza, Borborbor talked about the achievements and legacies of Ghana's first President, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, who earlier was a Prime Minister and African's foremost champion of continental unity and liberation of the black race.
A scene from the play
The cast succeeded in cracking the ribs of patrons with their comic performance, making the excited audience conclude in unison that Dr. Kwame Nkrumah lived up to his dictum that, “The Independence of Ghana is meaningless unless it is linked with the total liberation of the African continent.”
Paul Addo, who played the role of Nkrumah, shocked the audience with his deep voice depicting the true character of Ghana's first President who led the country to independence in 1957.
The patrons learnt good lessons from Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, who was born on September 21, 1909, and passed on April 27, 1972.
Paul Addo playing the role of Nkrumah
"Nkrumah's Vision for One Africa" was written by Dr. Eric Debrah Otchere and directed by Dr. Delali Numekevor, all Senior Lecturers of the Department of Music and Dance.
Beaming, some patrons after watching the play told University reporters that " Dr. Kwame Nkrumah remains an iconic figure in Ghanaian history."
Mabel Osei, a patron of the play, a student in level 300, said Dr. Kwame Nkrumah's life and achievements were worthy of emulation for the younger generation.
Similarly, another patron, Samuel Osei, a level 400 medical student, said he enjoyed every bit of the play and gave thumps up to the Department of Music and Dance.
A dance scene during the play
Another patron, a retired U.S-based Ghanaian teacher, Mr. Kwaku Owusu Achiaw, praised Dr. Kwame Nkrumah for promoting Ghana’s national unity partly through the boarding school system where all students were made to feel very equal, irrespective of family wealth, creed, fame, ethnicity or occupation.
"The play tells you that “Nkrumah never dies!” and I urge the Department to promote the ideals of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah" he continued.
The two-hour musical theatre was witnessed by the Head of the Department of Music and Dance, Dr. John Doe Dordzro, as well as other top University officeholders.
Source: Documentation and Information Section-UCC
The University of Cape Coast (UCC) branch of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG), successfully organised its highly anticipated annual Family Day out for its members to spend time together and socialise.
Clad in their branded T-shirts, the University teachers thrilled spectators with dazzling performances in games like seven-aside football, oware, ludo, draughts, table tennis, musical chairs as well as a dance contest.
A group of UTAG members after a football match
Before the event, UCC-UTAG members engaged in an invigorating aerobics session led by a fitness trainer. After aerobics, a team of medical personnel from UCC hospital was available to screen and advise participants on health-related issues.
UCC-UTAG members during the aerobics session
The screening entailed blood pressure, blood sugar, body mass index, and Hepatitis B among others.
A staff member of the DUHS checking the vitals of a participant
The event climaxed with surprise giveaways to some participants in the various activities.
During an interview with the press, the President of UCC-UTAG, Dr. Jerry Opoku Ansah, said the occasion had been earmarked to be celebrated on March 6 when UCC-UTAG members gather as a family to unwind and also socialise.
Source: Documentation and Information Section
The Centre for Gender Research Advocacy and Documentation (CEGRAD), University of Cape Coast (UCC) has joined the rest of the world in observing International Women’s Day (IWD).
March 8 every year is earmarked by the United Nations (UN) to celebrate the successes of women.
The day is also used to challenge gender stereotypes, call out discrimination, draw attention to bias, seek inclusion, and call for action to accelerate gender parity.
Commemorated on the theme, “Invest in Women: Accelerate Progress”, the event was graced by security experts, gender activists, academia, students and civil society groups.
Keynote speaker at the event, a former Director of CEGRAD, Prof. Akua Biritwum, stressed the need for more investments in women to eliminate negative gender stereotypes to achieve gender equality to advance progress in the country.
She indicated, " We need to make more investment in removing the negative gender stereotypes. Till we do that, I am afraid gender equality will elude us and we will not be able to accelerate progress."
Former Director of CEGRAD-UCC, Prof. Akua Biritwum
She stated that there was still a lot of workplace discrimination against women, alleging that some employers were hesitant to hire women of childbearing age, pregnant women, women on maternity leave, and women with young children.
Towards addressing this challenge, she called for the promotion of a safe work environment by organisations and charged leaders at all levels to address the gender gap to create the right environment for women.
She lampooned the media for its erroneous perception that all allies of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transexual, and queer (LGBTQ+) people were indulging in anal sex.
Consequently, she disagreed with the passage of the Proper Human Sexual Rights and Family Value Bill, 2021, popularly known as the anti-gay bill, by Parliament, which proscribed a minimum sentence of six months and a maximum of three years for persons caught in the act of same-sex activities.
"When you make a social problem a criminal problem, then you defeat the whole essence of values. Values are inculcated. values are not forced by locking up people in prison" she continued.
Therefore, she called on women to join hands together through a renewed energy to fight against the inequality of the anti-gay bill which will hurt society as a whole.
As part of the programme, a panel discussion moderated by Dr. Theresah Patrine Ennin, of the Department of English-UCC, six panellists shared their candid views on female empowerment and urged women to support one another while providing mutual support by creating opportunities for their advancement.
The only male panelist, Emeritus Prof. K. Awusabo Asare, of the Department of Population and Health-UCC, praised Rebecca Naa Dedei Aryeetey, whose image is on Ghana's 50 pesewas coin, for her tenacity of purpose.
According to him, Madam Aryeetey, a devout feminist and the chief financier of the then Kwame Nkrumah-led Convention People’s Party (CPP), was a source of inspiration and worthy of emulation to all women.
" My wish is that we all learn about Dede and see how she can inspire all of us. I want all of us to aspire to inspire before we expire in life, while we rethink our socialization process, he added.
Members of the Atlantic Hall Traditional Council at the event
The Director of CEGRAD, Prof. Eunice Fay Amissah, in a brief message, said her outfit was committed to championing gender equality in all aspects of society.
Source: Documentation and Information Section-UCC
A group of students and faculty from the Kirkhof College of Nursing, Grand Valley State University (GVSU), USA, have visited the University of Cape Coast (UCC) to seek practical exposure on the Ghanaian healthcare system.
The collaboration between the School of Nursing and Midwifery and the GVSU Public Health Nursing, which started in 2013, is aimed at establishing and improving partnership with both local and international collaborators in the area of Public Health.
Dr. Nancy Ebu Enyan, the Dean of the School of Nursing and Midwifery-UCC, addressing the gathering
During the engagement, the Dean of the School of Nursing and Midwifery-UCC, Dr. Nancy Ebu Enyan, expressed her excitement to receive the team.
She shared insightful information about the Ghanaian Health System and an overview of activities in the School of Nursing and Midwifery.
The Dean lauded the collaboration between the School of Nursing and Midwifery-UCC and GVSU.
Prof. Susan Strouse speaking at the event
The team leader of the Grand Valley State University delegation, Prof. Susan Strouse, expressed appreciation for the warm reception accorded them and said the visit was significant for the students to experience at firsthand the Ghanaian healthcare system in Ghana.
She urged the students to take the practical study of the Ghanaian Public Health system seriously.
Dignitaries and students after the event.
The students and faculty were taken through presentations on Overview of the Ghana Health System: Focus on the Types of Facilities and Role of the Nurse: Tit Bits about Ghanaian Culture”, and “Overview of UCC.”
The guests earlier took a facility trip around the various departments of the University.
Source: Documentation and Information Section-UCC
The School of Sustainable Engineering (SSE) of the University of Cape Coast (UCC) has held a day’s entrepreneurial engineering workshop for faculty and students of the school.
Themed, “Fostering an Entrepreneurial Mindset in Engineering Classrooms”, the workshop had two resource persons from the University of Bucknell in the United States of America; Prof Joseph Tranquillo and Prof. Brad Putman facilitating.
Opening the workshop, the Provost of the College of Agriculture and Natural Sciences (CANS), Prof. Moses Jojo Eghan, mentioned it was important for the SSE and, indeed, the University of Cape Coast to learn from the Bucknell University since it had made great gains as an entrepreneurial university. He noted this was towards realising the Vice-Chancellor of UCC, Prof. Johnson Nyarko Boampong’s vision of making UCC an entrepreneurial university.
Prof. Moses Jojo Eghan, Provost of CANS-UCC
Prof. Eghan was optimistic the workshop would resource the participants with the necessary skills to adopt and apply 21st-century teaching methods necessary to holistically prepare students for the world.
Prof. Joseph Tranquillo, associate Dean for Transformative Teaching and Learning at Bucknell University, while speaking on the theme outlined the essence of entrepreneurship as the engine of innovation, societal transformation, and economic advancement. Further, it stimulates economic growth, generates employment, and aids in societal adaptation to changing possibilities and challenges. He added that the drive to be an entrepreneur was innate and only required some effort to realise it.
Addressing faculty members of the school, Prof. Tranquillo mentioned the need for teachers to make the lectures lively and sustain the interest of students through the inculcation of 21st-century teaching and learning into their curricula. He highlighted how out-of-classroom teaching strategies could also enable students to appreciate what they were being taught better.
Prof. Joseph Tranquillo facilitating a session at the workshop
Prof. Tranquillo whilst encouraging faculty members to adopt the effectual thinking approach, which is more eventful and allows students to explore, also indicated that using the problem-based learning approach during lectures allowed students to appreciate issues within their communities better and fashion out strategies to address identified challenges.
He also noted that instituting a reward system that would appreciate members of faculty who are excelling at their approaches to teaching which better expose students to developing trends will be important to spur others on.
On his part, the Dean of the College of Engineering, Bucknell University, Prof. Brad Putman, addressed participants on the topic, “Preparing Engineers for Equitable and Inclusive Future”.
He pointed out that it was important for the competencies of students to be built through the perspective of talent, social consciousness, multicultural, entrepreneurship and interdisciplinarity.
Prof. Brad Putman addressing participants
Prof. Putman extensively discussed the essence of Collaborative Online International Exchange (COIL) which provides an equitable and partnership-based learning format that effectively uses technological tools. Teachers under this format collaboratively design joint sessions that attend to different learning styles which lead to an equitable intercultural experience.
He mentioned that COIL enables increased student involvement and by this, students were more involved in the course material and projects because of the distinctive course design which emphasises purposeful cross-cultural encounters. This cross-cultural collaboration encourages student ownership of learning processes making the classroom experience better for every person.
Prof. Putman added that it was essential to integrate sustainability principles and practices into engineering education and training.
He noted that engineering programmes should include courses and modules that cover topics related to sustainability, environmental conservation, social equity, and economic development.
This would help students understand the importance of sustainable development and how engineering could contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Founding Dean of the SSE-UCC, Prof. Robert Sarpong Amoah
The founding Dean of the SSE-UCC, Prof. Robert Sarpong Amoah, was grateful to the facilitators for the workshop and called on the benefitting faculty members and students to put the knowledge gained to good use.
Present at the workshop were Prof. L. K. Sam Amoah, a former Provost of CANS; Rev. Prof. Owusu Sekyere, Former Vice-Chancellor of Cape Coast Technical University; the Director of Academic Planning and Quality Assurance, Prof. Daniel Agyapong and other officers of the University. Also, with the team from Bucknell University was Stephen Appiah-Padi, Director of the Office of Global and Off-Campus Education.
The Bucknell University team was presented with souvenirs from the University of Cape Coast.
Source: Documentation and Information Section-UCC
As part of efforts to improve teaching and learning in their alma mater, the Bachelor of Science (BSc) Chemistry 2000 Year Group has donated five desktop computers and accessories to the Department of Chemistry.
The items were presented on behalf of the Group by Dr. Isaac Asiamah, who is also a Senior Lecturer in the Department, along with Pastor Amos Amoh, a member of the Group.
Rationale
Dr. Asiamah said the Group decided to give back to the Department because it gave them the requisite academic foundation that they built upon to become successful.
To that end, members of the Group discussed the lofty idea of the need to assist the Department and through individual contributions of members of the Year Group, the computers were procured.
Dr. Isaac Asiamah( in spectacles) explaining a point to the gathering.
Apart from contributing to the purchase of the computers, Dr. Asiamah singled out Mr. George Maclean Adjabeng, the Chief Executive Officer of Ecodyst for also donating EcoChyll and other glass wares to the Department.
Other contributors, Dr. Asiamah mentioned, included Prof. Frederick Ato Armah, a former Director of the Directorate of Research, Innovation and Consultancy-UCC; Mr. Abdul Samad Issah; Mr. Eric Mensah; Mr. Castro Kofi Akordor and Pastor Amos Amoh.
While urging the Department to put in place a proper maintenance regime to ensure the equipment were kept in good shape, Dr. Asiamah indicated that the Group would continue to support the Department in various endeavours and urged other year groups to emulate their shining example.
Commendation
The Head of the Department, Prof. Victor Y.A Barku, who described the presentation as a timely intervention, expressed appreciation to the group for the donation.
He said the items donated by the Year Group will go a long way to improve the academic activities of post-graduate studies.
Prof. Barku gave assurance that the equipment would be put to good use and kept in good working order to encourage the Group to donate more equipment in the future.
Prof. Victor Y.A Barku (2nd from left),Head of the Department of Chemistry, and Prof. Ernest Yankson (4th from left), Dean of the School of Physical Sciences, and other faculty members after the donation
The Head of the Department also made a passionate appeal to other year groups and corporate bodies to support the Department by emulating the kind gesture of the BSc Chemistry 2000 Year Group.
The Dean of the School of Physical Sciences, Prof. Ernest Yankson, also thanked the old students for the kind gesture and said the items presented would facilitate quality teaching and learning.
He tasked the Department to take good care of the equipment.
Source: Documentation and Information Section-UCC
The Institute of Education of the University of Cape Coast (UCC), through its Adoption of Schools Project, has presented stationery and learning materials to two public basic schools within the Cape Coast Metropolis.
The educational items, meant to improve teaching and learning outcomes, included 100 copies of exercise books, 450 boxes of pens, 500 packets of erasers, 500 boxes of pencils, 350 packets of sharpeners and 100 boxes of crayons.
The beneficiary schools that received each of the aforementioned educational items are Imam Khomeini Basic School and the Dehia Basic School.
Speaking at the presentation ceremony, the Chairman of the Adoption of Schools Project at the Institute of Education, Dr. Christopher Kwaah, said the books and other educational materials would improve learning in the schools.
Headmaster of Imam Khomeini Basic School, Alhaji Ismaela Tijani (L) receiving the donation from chairman of the Adoption of Schools Project at the Institute of Education, Dr. Christopher Kwaah (R). Looking on is the representative of the Metro Education Director of Education, Mr. Francis Koffie.
According to him, the College of Education Studies would do its level best to improve the learning outcomes of learners at low-performing basic and senior high schools within the Cape Coast Metropolis and would use the Project to invest in that sector.
He used the opportunity to advise the learners to take their studies seriously to become useful citizens who would contribute meaningfully to nation building.
Receiving the books on behalf of the schools, the Headmaster of Imam Khomeini Basic School, Alhaji Ismaela Tijani, thanked the benefactor for the gesture and called on other corporate organisations to emulate the Institute of Education by extending similar support to the schools.
He said the stationery provided would go a long way to ease the burden on some parents who would struggle to get books and pens for their children.
The representative of the Metro Education Director of Education, Mr. Francis Koffie, for his part, expressed gratitude to the Institute for its support of teaching and learning amongst learners of the schools.
Source: Documentation and Information Section-UCC