PROF JOHN KABURISE PASSES AWAY (DEC 14, PAGE 11)

NINETY students, including a 99-year-old man, graduated at the 3rd congregation of the Presbyterian University College (PUC) held at Abetifi in the Eastern Region at the weekend.
The 99-year-old graduate, Mr Akasease Kofi Boakye Yiadom, a veteran who fought in the Second World War enrolled in the university at the age of 96, to read Business Administration.
In an address read on his behalf by the Deputy Chief of Staff, Mr Alex Segbefia, President John Evans Atta Mills advised graduates of tertiary institutions to stay in the country to apply the skills and knowledge they had acquired in the nation’s re-building process initiated by the government.
He said rather than migrating to other countries to become part of the common unskilled labour done there, they should use the skills in such areas as Information and Communication Technology (ICT), among other professions, to contribute their quota to the country’s socio-economic development.
The President reminded products of tertiary institutions that “since education at such higher levels had equipped them with the requisite knowledge and skills of critical thinking and creativity, they must strive to apply such skills to enable them to become self-employed”.
He reminded the graduates that “nation-building calls for hard work, dedication and the desire to achieve something for your country”.
“Remember the church, the nation and others have sacrificed to make you what you are today. You must arise and join the government to build this nation to realise our dream of a better Ghana”, said Prof. Mills.
On government education policy, the President said his government had put in place structures and measures which would, in no doubt, transform the educational system to produce “men and women who will positively impact on the search for solutions to the numerous challenges confronting our developmental agenda”.
He mentioned the provision of school uniforms for basic school pupils, starting from December this year, the abolition of all extra fees at the basic education level, increase in Capitation Grant from GH¢3 to GH¢4.5 per child and the improvement on the quality of teaching and learning with, incentive packages for teachers in deprived areas as part of the policy.
Prof. Mills also gave an assurance that the government would continue to subsidise the Basic Education Certificate Examinations (BECE) registration fees by 70 per cent, adding that in 2010, additional 415 school buildings would be provided in schools whose pupils attended classes under trees.
The President acknowledged the role being played by private tertiary institutions in the country, noting that the increase in the enrolment of students in tertiary education from approximately 10,000 in 1990 to 100,000 currently had been attained through the involvement of private tertiary institutions.
To enable the nation to enjoy the full benefit of the expansion of her tertiary educational system, he said the government was critically examining its tertiary education policy and its financing, adding that “we remained committed to its policy of cost sharing”.
Prof. Mills commended the Presbyterian Church of Ghana for playing a significant role in the educational system of the country from basic to tertiary levels, and appealed to the management of the PUC not to ignore the church’s noble principle as enshrined in the Presbyterian educational philosophy, but to inculcate it in its students.
Earlier in his welcoming address, the Principal of the PUC, Prof. K. Sraku-Lartey, said as part of the strategic plans to reposition the institution to become a centre of academic excellence and a pacesetter in tertiary education delivery, the University Council had approved plans to enable the institution to obtain a charter by 2013 and introduce new demand-driven programmes, which would meet both local and international requirements.
He announced plans to increase student population to at least 1,500 in five years and to at least 3,000 in the next 10 years, indicating that there were plans to establish a School of Agriculture, which he said would be backed by a viable commercial agriculture and take advantage of the University of Ghana’s College of Health Science Biomedical School to establish a medical school
On the challenges facing the institution, Prof. Sraku-Lartey expressed concern over the lack of accommodation for both staff and students, the lack of water on all campuses, lack of computers and accessories to run ICT programmes, and books for its library, and called on the government and well-endowed individuals to assist the institution.