GIRL, 6, OUT OF SCHOOL (Page 17)

Story: Vincent Adedze, Savelugu

THE Akuapem campus of the Presbyterian University College (PUC) has held its first matriculation to admit 68 students.
The students, made up of 43 males and 25 females, would be pursuing programmes in Rural and Community Development, Environmental and Natural Resources Management and Business Economics.
The ceremony was attended by a number of dignitaries, including Osahene Ofei Kwasi Agyeman, Krontihene of Akuapem, the District Chief Executive for Akuapem North, Mr Adu Aboagye and top clergymen of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG).
Addressing the gathering, the Principal, Professor Kofi Sraku-Lartey, said the PUC, which was established in 2004 with campuses at Kwahu and Asante Akyem, had planned to set up a department of languages at the Akuapem campus to admit students for French, English and Akan programmes.
He said the aim of the university was to produce leaders with creative and innovative skills to meet the challenges of the country.
He expressed the PUC’s gratitude to the PCG, other organisations and individuals for their support to the university.
Osahene Offei Agyeman told the students that since tertiary education was gradually becoming the basic requirement in Ghana, they should take their studies seriously to come out successfully.
He appealed to traditional rulers and civil society to support the university, since it would bring a lot of benefits to the area.
The Chairman of the Akuapem Presbytery, Rt Rev J.O.Y. Mantey, said the Akuapem campus would not only produce professionals imbued with Christian principles but would also transform Akuapem to be “Ghana’s Oxford”.
He gave the assurance that the PCG would continue to support the university.
In a speech read on his behalf, the Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Kwadwo  Afram Asiedu, said the Kufuor Administration, since taking office about seven years ago, had allocated huge sums of money to the educational sector, which has been reformed through a number of interventions such as the Capitation Grant and free meals at the basic level.
He said since the government alone could not meet the educational requirements of the country, it had empowered the private sector to be actively involved in that respect and praised the PCG for  building a number of schools in the country.