Presbyterian University College Chalks Success

PROFESSOR KOFI Sraku-Lartey, President of the Presbyterian University College of Ghana (PUCG) has enumerated achievements of the College since its establishment 10 years ago. He said the University which started with just a few students and only two programmes at a small basic school compound in Abetifi can now boast of five campuses at Okwahu, Akuapem, Asante-Akyem, Tema, Kumasi and about 3000 students. According to him, the PUCG has produced over 1,500 quality human resource for the nation. The College has also expanded from two modules to 10, Professor Sraku-Lartey announced at the second Public Foundation Lecture organized to mark the 10th anniversary celebration under the theme: �Managing Migration Induced Urbanization and Its Impact on Peripheral Livelihoods in Ghana� in the face of the ten years of Presbyterian university education in Ghana�. The Presbyterian University College, he said, was among the four International Colleges and Universities Web Ranking and on Webometrics Web ranking and that it (the Presbyterian University College, Ghana) has continuously been among the first five of about 60 universities in Ghana and among the top 100 universities in Africa. �Current web-ranking places us in 3rd position in the country,� he revealed. He further disclosed that the University received the �2012 Exam Ethics Marshals International Award for best Practices in Education (Private Universities) while the Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) team in PUCG was adjudged the most promising team in the 2011/2012 Academic Year SIFE National Competition. The PUCG President also mentioned that in the 2012/2013 National SIFE competition, the PUCG team placed 3rd among 17 tertiary institutions which participated in the competition, while the PUCG SIFE President was adjudged the Overall Best SIFE President of the same year. He further announced that the first batch of nursing students of the University came second in the whole country and that an alumnus of the College was nominated as the Best National Service Person in Central Region during the 2010/2011 Academic Year. PUCG, Prof. Sraku Lartey said further, was adjudged the Best Private University of the year (2013) by the Media Consult. Prof. Sraku-Lartey revealed that under the MiDA Project, PUCG is on record to have trained over 2,000 farmers in the Afram Plains and that there has been a high rate of publications by lecturers of the College as a result of which one of them has been cited by the International media. Other achievements, he said, include the establishment of a GHc100, 000.00 scholarship scheme for students. The PUCG head also reported of the enrolment of a 100-year-old man who successfully pursued a certificate course in Business Administration. As a show of its corporate responsibility, PUCG Staff and students periodically run workshops and training programmes for teachers and students in JHS and SHS on the Kwahu Ridge. The College also often donates books for JHS schools in its localities besides mapping out tourist-potential areas in the Kwahu Ridge. It was also announced that Staff and students also offer various community services on all the campuses, and that the towns within the catchment areas of the campuses, have been opened up in terms of increase in commerce, access to telephone/Internet and communication. Prof. Sraku-Lartey indicated that the setting up of the university in rural communities is one of the church�s desire to bring quality tertiary education to the doorstep of these communities hence its beginning at Abetifi in 2003 as an academic institution, to carry out research; bearing in mind the excellent educational delivery by the Presbyterian Church of Ghana. In spite of the achievements, Prof. Sraku-Lartey mentioned a number of challenges facing the College established in a semi-rural environment enumerating some as Infrastructure development, Difficulties in obtaining accommodation for staff and hostels for students, Low enrolment due to location, High operational costs, High communication costs , Difficulty in obtaining water during certain periods, Difficulties in obtaining adequate Staff due to the locations of the campuses, Lack of Recreational facilities, Inadequate computers and books for the library and the ICT laboratory, Inadequate vehicles to transport students to and from hostels and Inadequate vehicles for farming activities. On his Part, Mr Kwadwo Amo Osei, Registrar of the University said they will continue to administer quality education to students who pursue higher education at P.U.C.G