A former Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Professor Florence Abena Dolphyne, has reiterated appeals to the government to consider giving support to private universities through the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) to enable them to pursue science-based programmes.
According to her, some of the private universities in the country offer programmes in Computer Science, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and in the core and applied sciences and therefore needed support from the government to be able to offer such programmes.
Prof. Dolphyne was speaking at the first matriculation of the Marshalls University College in Accra last Wednesday.
Matriculation statistics
In all, 224 students matriculated to read various courses and programmes in the university. Out of this number, 32 were enrolled in the School of Arts and Social Sciences; 156 were admitted to the J.S. Addo School of Business and 36 in the School of Technology.
Capability of private universities
Prof. Dolphyne, who is currently the Vice-Chairperson of the Board of Trustees for the J.S. Addo Scholarship Scheme of the university college, said private universities were prepared to train more students in science-based programmes, but these was costly, hence the need for the government�s intervention.
She said �Science and technology programmes require much more investment in physical structures such as laboratories, and usually, very expensive equipment that require well-trained personnel to run such programmes.
�I believe that private universities are providing very useful services that the growing numbers of our youth desperately need, and the responsibility for ensuring that they have adequate and quality human capital to train our youth should not be left to them alone,� she added.
Advice to matriculants
She advised the matriculants to continue to work hard to achieve excellence in all their endeavours, adding that a great deal of responsibility rested on them since they were the pioneers of the institution. She encouraged them to form good character during their stay on campus and form a viable alumni association when they complete their course .
The Chairman of the Board of Governors of the university, Prof. D.E.K Amenumey, added his voice to appeals to the government to sponsor private tertiary institutions to offer science-based programmes and urged the media to broadcast information on the capabilities of private universities.
The President and Founder of the university, Mr Tetteh Nettey, said the institution would continue to train graduates who would be exposed to more practical work to enable them to meet the demands of the competitive job market.
Source: Daily Graphic
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