Presbyterian University College Ghana receives Presidential Charter
The Presbyterian University College Ghana (PUCG) has received a Presidential Charter making it a full-fledged University that will now award its own degrees rather than through an affiliate University as required of all private Universities without a charter.
The President of the Republic of Ghana, H.E Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo presented the Charter Certificate to the university on Tuesday, August 30th 2022 and two other universities namely Methodist University College Ghana and Catholic University College at a brief presentation ceremony at the Jubilee House.
The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana Rt. Rev. Prof. Joseph Obiri Yeboah Mante received the Charter Certificate from the President.
Addressing officials of the three university colleges at the banquet hall of the Jubilee, President Akufo-Addo noted that the now fully-fledged universities would be monitored to ensure that they continue to maintain the high standards that has earned them the Presidential Charters.
President Akufo-Addo applauded the three Universities for the solid work done in getting this far and drew their attention to sector 27 of Act 1023 which states that”;
“The President may on the recommendation of the Commission, through the Minister, revoke, vary or in any other way, amend the provisions of the Charter where the President considers that the revocation, variation or amendment is in the best interest of tertiary education in the country”.
“The universities should therefore bear in mind that they will be closely monitored, especially, in areas of concern outlined by the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission,” President Akufo-Addo said.
As Chartered institutions, asked them to continue to improve and to introduce more innovative programmes and courses that will equip their students with the requisite skills and competences needed to develop the country and transform progressively the economy.
President Akufo-Addo noted that the three universities have been working towards this end and are the first to receive their charter upon the coming into effect of the new reforms” that took effect upon the passage of the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission Act, 2020 (Act 1023).
“They have as a result, successfully gone through the rigorous accreditation and quality assurance processes under section 5, sub-section 2 of Act 1023 and the associated regulations which enjoins the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) to consider the following matters in the charter appraisal process”.
“A, The governing structure of the institution. B, the quality of teaching, research, the academic staff and work of the applicant institution. C, the sustainability of financial, material and teaching facilities and resources at the disposal of or owed by the applicant institution, and D, other factors that the commission determines to be appropriate” Akufo-Addo said.
Birthday present
Prof Obeng Ofori, Vice Chancellor of the Catholic University in his response on behalf of all three universities, expressed their appreciation to the President for granting them their respective charters.
In his remarks, Prof Obeng Ofori, requested of the President to give the three universities, buses, to serve as their birthday presents as well as help solve urgent transportation challenges in the three universities.
President Akufo-Addo, immediately authorized the Minister for Education, Yaw Adu-Twum, who was present at the ceremony, to give the buses to the three newly chartered tertiary institutions as requested.
Background
According to the church history, in 1843, the Presbyterian Church of Ghana established the first primary school in the country. This sparked off a series of bold, visionary and pioneering initiatives in the development of education in the country. Five years later, it established the Presbyterian Training College (PTC) at Akropong, the second higher educational institution in West Africa after Fourah Bay College in Sierra Leone. Since those early beginnings, the Presbyterian Church of Ghana has established and managed, in partnership with the Government of Ghana, hundreds of primary schools, many high schools and colleges of education.
These schools and colleges, guided by the proverbial Presbyterian discipline, set very high moral as well as educational standards, which have characterized the Presbyterian Education tradition. Also in partnership with government, the church has provided and managed Professional, Technical and Vocational Institutions in a wide range of fields including Agriculture and Health. Specifically, the church has established 1,886 schools comprising 490 Nurseries, 973 Primary Schools, 388 Junior High Schools, five (5) Vocational Institutes, five (5) Colleges of Education and 25 Senior High Schools.
With the establishment of the Presbyterian Training College (PTC), it was hoped that, like the Fourah Bay College in Sierra Leone, it might one day be upgraded to a university. However, after several years, it was not until 1996 that the Synod of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana at that time took the bold decision to initiate steps into establishing a university. The body charged with pushing forward this initiative, the Presbyterian University Implementation Committee, was formally established in 1998. It is through these efforts and the determination of the Church that the Presbyterian University College Ghana now Presbyterian University Ghana has came into being.
Source: Presbyterian Media
