The Confucius Institute has celebrated its second anniversary with both Chinese and Ghanaian cultural performances at the Main Auditorium.

Speaking at the function, the Central Regional Minister, Mr. Kwamina Duncan, commended the University for hosting the Institute to promote the Chinese Language and culture and also extending it to other educational institutions in the region. He assured that the Regional Coordinating Council would ensure a peaceful environment to make the region secure for the Confucius Institute to develop and achieve its objectives.

Mr. Duncan said the region had benefitted immensely in terms of infrastructure projects from Ghana’s bilateral relations with China. He hoped that through the Confucius Institute, cultural exchange programmes between Ghana and China would increase for mutually beneficially relationship between the two nations.

Drawing inspiration from the Chinese story, the Regional Minister called on Ghanaians to emulate the exemplary attitude of discipline and a culture of determination to achieve success. “We need to imbibe the culture of discipline and the culture of determination to help in the development of our communities and the nation as whole,” he admonished. He said China presented a great lesson to Ghanaians to consider their ways of doing things.

Mr. Duncan was worried that some people have been instigating anti-China agenda on social media and called on Ghanaians to learn from the success story rather than denigrating the Chinese people.

The Provost of the College of Agriculture and Natural Sciences, Prof. L. K. Sam-Amoah, on behalf of the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Joseph Ghartey Ampiah, said UCC’s relationship with the Confucius Institute was bearing fruits. He indicated that the University would continue to cooperate with the Institute to achieve more successes in the years ahead.

The Chinese Director of UCC Confucius Institute, Prof. Hu Langcai, who read a speech on behalf of the Chinese Ambassador to Ghana, His Excellency, Shi Ting Wang, said UCC was the second University to host the Institute in the country. He reported that UCC Confucius Institute has made significant strides since its establishment two years ago.

Mr. Wang said in 2017, 20 students from UCC won the Chinese Ambassador Scholarship in addition to many students from Ghana who won various scholarships by the Chinese government to study in China. According to him several UCC students took part in the Chinese Bridge Proficiency Chinese Proficiency Communication in Ghana.

The Chinese Ambassador was hopeful that Ghanaians would make persistence effort to master the Ancient Chinese Language which has a history of 5, 000 years. He implored Ghanaians to “Study the Chinese Language, make Chinese friends, contribute towards the development of the Ghana-China relationship and believe in the bright future of UCC Confucius Institute”.

According to Mr. Wang, China-Africa relations would continue to flourish and, therefore, encouraged Ghanaian students to seize the historical opportunities and take advantage of Confucius Institutes.

The University of Cape Coast has hosted the 3^rd Annual Ghana Sociological and Anthropological Association (GSSA) Conference on the theme ‘The Social Sciences and the Sustainable Development Goals.’

The two day programme had members from the University of Cape Coast (UCC), University of Ghana (UG), Kwame Nkrumah University of Technology (KNUST), and University of Development Studies (UDS) attending.

Welcoming participants, Head of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology of UCC, Dr. William Boateng, encouraged members of the association to embark on scientific research to help solve current socio-economic problems of the country. Dr. Boateng noted that “as sociologists, it is our core mandate to address socio-economic issues (problems) through the use of proper scientific research findings”.

Delivering the keynote address, the Director of the Directorate of Research Innovation and Consultancy (DRIC), Prof. Samuel K. Anim, urged the entire members of the association to use all the necessary research findings to address the prevailing socio-economic problems and policies towards the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Prof. Annim added that members of the association should remain focused and use their scientific research works to sensitise the society on educational issues.

Closing the conference, the Provost, College of Humanities and Legal Studies, Prof. Dora Francisca Edu-Buandoh,  expressed gratitude to the executives of the GSSA for holding the conference in UCC. She advised the social scientists to ensure the realisation of the SDGs by keeping the ordinary citizenry informed and educated on socio-economic issues.  

The University has climaxed the 51^st Congregation with a call on the graduates to make positive and meaningful impact on their communities.

The College of Humanities and Legal Studies and the School of Graduate Studies had their sessions on the second day of the Congregation. A total of 1,858 who completed their programme of study with the College of Humanities and Legal Studies were presented during the Fifth Session. A total of 1, 357  graduands comprising 25 PhD, 70 MPhil, 46 MCom/MBA, 1 MN, 722 Med/MSc, 365 MA AND 125 PGDE were conferred with various degrees during the session for the  School of Graduate Studies.

Speaking at the Fifth Session, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Joseph Ghartey Ampiah, said the College of Humanities was sourcing for funds to support students with start-up entrepreneurial ventures to promote visibility of the Business Incubator and motivate future graduates to make good use of the skills and knowledge from the university-wide Entrepreneurship course. “The College has a vision of sourcing for funds to establish a competition to help students to incubate their start-ups,” he noted

Prof. Ampiah indicated that the as part of the College-Industry Week Celebration, the Chief Executive Officer of Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) delivered a public lecture was on the theme “GNPC Corporate Social Investment Model: A Discussion Note on Evolution, Implementation and Challenges. Prof. Ampiah stated that the College has secured One million Dollars which would be released in tranches of $250, 000 for four years from the GNPC for a research Chair in Oil and Gas Studies. He added that a memorandum of understanding has been signed and the GNPC Chair position has been advertised.

Addressing the Sixth Session which was dedicated to the School of Graduate Studies, the Vice-Chancellor said the University would continue to improve upon the completion rate of postgraduate students. “It is anticipated that the overall graduating number for the 2017/2018 academic year would see an improvement over the total graduating number for the 2016/2017 academic year,” he noted.

Postgraduate Research and Publication

Prof. Ampiah reported that the Academic Board has approved the article-based thesis format to encourage publication of high standard research in a timely manner by students to improve students’ completion rate and UCC institutional image through rapid dissemination of research outcomes. “The Academic Board has also approved an Academic Writing Course which is envisioned to offer opportunities to students to require and develop rhetorical knowledge and practices for studying and writing within discipline-specific contexts,” he announced. He explained that the course was expected to assist postgraduate students in research writing and publishing. He added that dual postgraduate programmes for postgraduate research degrees was approved by the Academic Board to promote multidisciplinary approach to teaching, learning and research.

Expanding Access to UCC Postgraduate Education

The Vice-Chancellor said the University would continue to expand access to postgraduate education to the doorstep of students. He stated that the College of Distance Education (CoDE) currently has an enrolment of 3, 214 who were pursuing MBA, M.ED/MA, MPhil and MED programmes at its study centres in Tamale, Sunyani, Kumasi, Accra, Takoradi and Cape Coast. He pointed out that out of the total number of students graduating, 234 received their graduate training through the distance mode. 

Restructuring of CoDE

Due to the high patronage of UCC Distance Programmes, the Vice-Chancellor said the College of Distance Education was being restructured to position it for the expected high numbers and competition. Prof. Ampiah noted that College Graduate Coordinators have been appointed by Schools and Faculties to facilitate postgraduate programmes, seminars on e-learning for graduate students are mounted consistently and made more user-friendly. “ At least once in each academic year, special seminars aimed at improving graduate studies and ensuring completion of programmes on schedule are organised for graduate students where very senior faculty members take them through essentials of Graduate Studies,” he explained.