ADDRESS BY THE VICE CHANCELLOR, UNIVERSITY OF CAPE COAST AT THE JOINT ELEVENTH (11TH) AND TWELFTH (12TH) CONGREGATION OF THE EVANGELICAL PRESBYTERIAN UNIVERSITY COLLEGE (EPUC), HO ON FRIDAY, 14TH MAY, 2021

Address delivered on his behalf by Rev. Prof. Seth Asare-Danso

 

The Chairman of Council

Members of the E.P. University College Council

Hon. Minister of Education

Hon. Minister of State

The President, E.P. University College

Hon. Members of Parliament and MMDCES

The Moderator and Members of the Standing Committee of E.P Church,

Representatives of Regulatory Bodies

Your Majesty, the Paramount Chief of Asogli State

Togbewo, Mamawo

The Clergy

Media Practitioners

Past and Present Students

Distinguished Invited Guests

Ladies and Gentlemen

It is a great honour for me to be associated with this event and I want to thank the Evangelical Presbyterian University College’s (EPUC) Governing Council, Management, Staff, Students and indeed the Planning Committee of this year’s Joint 11th and 12th Congregation, for giving me this opportunity to be part of this celebration. Chairman of Council, permit me to congratulate all those who have contributed to the making of the Evangelical Presbyterian University College what it is it today. The institution has now become the pride of the people of the Asogli State, the Volta Region and the E.P. Church. Let me use this opportunity to commend the founding fathers and mothers, past and present lecturers, the alumni and students of EPUC, for the various roles that you have played in the past and present to make the institution what it is today for all of us to be proud of. 

This morning, I am here to represent the Vice Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast, and I convey his fraternal greetings to you.  Prof. Johnson Nyarko Boampong, the Vice Chancellor, should have been here today to grace this occasion and to address you, but an equally important assignment has taken him elsewhere.  I am therefore, privileged to present this address to you on his behalf. 

Chairman of Council, the E. P. University College is one of the seventy (70) private tertiary Institutions that are currently affiliated to the University of Cape Coast.  Apart from this number (70), we also have other applications from private tertiary institutions which want to affiliate their academic programmes to the University of Cape Coast. The processing of most of the applications which are pending has reached an advanced stage.  I am sharing this information just to challenge the E.P. University College that you are in competition with a number of tertiary institutions in this affiliation business in this country, including other faith-based educational institutions.  This must therefore urge you to continue to work very hard so as to produce good quality products with holistic training, who will serve not only the nation at large, but also the church in particular, in order to make the E.P. University College an institution of excellence.

E. P. University College was affiliated to the University of Cape Coast on 28th April 2009. Since then, this institution has worked very hard to maintain very good working relationship with the University of Cape Coast in its affiliation. So far, the following academic programmes have been affiliated to the University of Cape Coast:

B. Sc. Business Administration (Accounting & Finance); B. Sc. Business Administration (Marketing); B. Sc. Business Administration (Human Resource Management & Organizational Development); B. Sc. Business Administration, Credit Management and Finance; B. Sc. Integrated Development Studies; B. A. Government Studies; B. A. Social and Community Development; B. A. Corporate Secretaryship & Management; B. Sc. Animal Science and Fisheries; B. Sc. Agribusiness; B. A. French Language; and B. Ed. (Arts).

Students of the various faculties who have followed the approved programmes of study over the stipulated period, and have passed the required examinations will be graduating today.  I would therefore use this opportunity to commend the graduating students for your efforts, which have been crowned with success, and we are all celebrating today. You have made us proud, and we all join you in saying: “To God be the glory!”.  

I also commend the academic staff of the E. P. University College and the supporting staff for the good work that you have done, and the support that you have provided to these graduating students in the course of their studies.  Let me specifically commend the Moderator and members of the E. P. Church, Ghana, and His Royal Majesty the Paramount Chief and the people of Asogli State, for the vision to establish the E. P. University College, and the support that you have provided to this institution in the promotion of scholarship over the years.

Chairman of Council, the University of Cape Coast has had institutional affiliation link with the E. P. University College since the 1998/1999 academic year, and the relationship between the two institutions has so far been very cordial.  I am glad to say that now, the relationship has even been strengthened with the secondment of our own Professor Edem Kwasi Bakah to be the President of this noble University.   We are very optimistic that this new leadership will propel the institution to work hard to promote academic excellence to make E. P. University College a great institution that will gain autonomy from the University of Cape Coast and other affiliate institutions in the near future, so that it will apply for Presidential Charter to award its own degrees, in fulfilment of National Accreditation Board requirements.  However, this dream will only become a reality if the E. P. University College will fulfil its obligations not only to the University of Cape Coast (UCC), but also to other affiliate institutions and regulatory bodies under the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC).

Chairman of Council, let me remind the E. P. University College as our academic partner to continue to work towards the promotion of quality by:

  1. strictly adhere to the standards for GTEC Admission Requirements for Tertiary Education;
  2. establish a visible Quality Assurance Unit to guide academic decisions in this institution;
  3. take the Pre-Examination and Post-Examination Moderation exercises seriously and address all concerns that would be raised by supervising Faculty or Department;
  4. continue to ensure that UCC is represented not only on your Governing Council, but also on your Academic Board and Appointments and Promotions Committee;
  5. seek the approval of University of Cape Coast before advertising your programmes of study;
  6. involve your mentoring institutions in your admissions process;
  7. submit the list of all admitted students to the University of Cape Coast for approval before matriculation; and
  8. make regular payments of the Affiliation Fee.

Chairman of Council, Moderator, Your Royal Majesty, ladies and gentlemen, today constitutes an important landmark of this institution.  We have gathered here this morning to confer degrees on the eleventh and twelfth batches of students of EPUC, a function we have been observing annually. It is normally an exciting time for both management and graduands. Management’s excitement stems from the fact that after several years of hard work they are reaping the fruit of their labour. For graduands, it has been four, three and two years of studies (as the case may be), under trying conditions.

Chairman of Council, it is an undisputed fact that the most important factor in the production of goods and services, and in the growth of our economy, is human capital. Therefore, it is recognized that the development and growth of the people are important in every nation’s progress. The mutual knowledge, skills, attitudes and problem-solving abilities of a country’s human capital determine performance and productivity levels. Accordingly, expenditures related to education must be seen as investment in productivity. That is why both formal and non-formal education are crucial to human capital development, but the starting point of course is formal education.  It has often been mentioned that low level of human capital development in our part of the world is the cause of our state of underdevelopment. To me, not only does an event like this (congregation) remind those of us who are stakeholders in education of our core mandate, it also establishes where the emphasis must be in our national development efforts.

Generally speaking, the education we provide should in all cases prepare our students to enable them better their own living standards and to contribute to the socio-economic development of our country. So how do we live our vision as tertiary education providers? For us as stakeholders, the question should be “How do we prepare our students to acquire the knowledge, skills, attitudes and problem-solving abilities that will enable them to succeed, and to become the agents of change that our country disparately needs?” Certainly, our educational system needs improvement to ensure that it facilitates the realization of our national desires to enhance living standards.

Chairman of Council, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, allow me the opportunity to share some thoughts with our graduands and all of us who share responsibility in their development. My focus will be on the principles that are critical to our development.

First and foremost, we ought to recognize that the purpose of education is to impact the essential knowledge, and to challenge educators to have the mental capacity to do critical thinking. This is not achieved through learning by rote, and it is not merely about acquiring certificates. A good educational system must free the minds of our future leaders and equip them with creative or innovative thinking skills, to enable students to think and find solutions to our problems. People who have been educated are expected to bring about positive change in society. This must be the purpose of education.

Second, we have to recognize that education is a never-ending process. Times change, and as humans, our richest gift and endowment should be our ability to change our minds, our preferences, our dreams. Every situation is an opportunity to learn. Will Durant, an American Historian and a Philosopher, once said “sixty years ago I knew everything; now I know nothing; education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance”.  I look at education as a process of creative destruction, where new knowledge renders past truths obsolete. In a time of change therefore, it is the learners who will inherit the future. The only way to keep pace with change and exercise the required flexibility is to be willing to think. So, an educational system that presents information as dogmas that must be passively consumed will not help our cause.

Third, if we have to excel, we have to work very hard and demonstrate absolute commitment to our chosen careers or fields. We should teach our students to understand that the greater the effort one puts into his or her work, the more likely he or she is to succeed.  Praying for divine guidance and intervention though essential does not assure success. You have to be willing to do more than what is required of you.

Fourth, our educational system must develop in our students a good measure of self-confidence and a sense of independence. We should believe in ourselves, and the fact that we can do more for ourselves than what others can do for us. Independence, tempered by guidance and provision of needed resources, may be indispensable ingredients in the education of our students. A system of continuous assessment that requires student to prepare in advance for lectures and attempt at solving problems on their own, not only helps to develop their energy, but also helps develop their comprehension and their capacity to do critical thinking.

Fifth, we must encourage our students to think positively and to persevere. The expressions, too difficult and impossible should be absent from the vocabulary of our students and future leaders.

Above all, let us remind ourselves of the principle of tolerance so that we will continually appreciate the value of diversity of our country and of the world. This is necessary if we are to show respect for one another.

Dear graduands, I extend to you my warmest congratulations. You are expected to put into practice all you have acquired here at EPUC. You must affect society positively and be aware that you are ambassadors of EPUC and by extension UCC. I wish you well in your future endeavours.

Ladies and Gentlemen, let me assure the E P University College of my personal support and that of the University of Cape Coast in your endeavors as an institution of higher learning. That is to emphasize that UCC shall continue to support in its mentoring role of EPUC till such time that you will achieve a fully chartered status.

  1. Once again, I thank the Governing Council and Management of the Evangelical Presbyterian University College for this honour, and I wish you well in all your future endeavours.

Thank you!