Graduates Told To Never Believe In 'African Time'

The College of Basic and Applied Sciences at the University of Ghana (UG) has awarded Doctorates, Masters and first Degrees to 959 graduates with a call to uphold the integrity of time as a precious gift.

Mr William Amuna, the Policy Advisor to the Minister for Energy, who made the call said, 'African Time' was an enemy to the country's progress urging the graduates to be punctual in all they do adding that, 'there is no reason why you should believe in African Time'.

Sharing some principles of success, he urged the graduates to have it in mind that 'whatever I do, it must bring honour to myself, it must bring honour to my family and it must bring honour to my country.'

He said in order to build themselves, it was important to note that the first years after graduation was when one had to study to bring themselves up in the professional ladder.

He said the first two years after graduation were the formation stage, when graduates had to develop and keep educating themselves to be equipped to take advantage of every opportunity and tackle every challenge that may show up.

He said the formation stages were the times to dream adding that dreams were recognised as signatories of reality 'but you must back you're your dreams with efforts … you must work hard to achieve whichever you have'.

He urged the graduates to live honest lives saying, 'To live a successful life, you must be honest, you must be disciplined', adding that there was the need to be fair to all manner of persons they met on the professional path.

The Vice Chancellor said, this year, a total of 3,184 students would be graduating at various level from the University's four colleges, thus, Colleges of Health Sciences, Humanities, Education, and Basic and Applied Sciences.

Professor Oduro Owusu noted that the University's admission process reflected the diverse nature of student population saying, during the 2017/2018 admission cycle, a total of 14,128 students, made up of 11,707 undergraduates and 2,421 graduate students accepted offers and enrolled in various programmes run on various campuses.

He said, the University Council Board had approved a number of new courses and programmes to be added to the already existing ones adding that they included; Executive Masters of Science in Fisheries Administration and Management, Doctor of Philosophy in Health Physics Radiation, and a functional law courses for undergraduate students.

He said the Academic Board has also approved revisions to the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, Bachelor of Science, Master of Science and Master of Philosophy in Nursing and Midwifery programmes.

He noted that the University had forged new institutional partnership to promote research, exchange of students and faculty with a number of institutions in North America, Europe, Asia, Australia and Latin America.

He said a total of about 950 Wi-Fi access points had been installed in all campuses of the University including the Research Centre and the Regional Distance Education Learning Centres.

He noted that the University awarded scholarship to a total of 614 students out of 920 applicants representing 66.7 per cent adding that 'the 614 scholarship awardees comprised 424 males representing 69.1 per cent and 190 females representing 30.9 per cent.

Ms Abena Apraku, the overall best students with Final Grade Point Average of 3.98 delivering the valedictory address urged her colleagues to make adequate use of the vital principles that had been accumulated during the stay in the school.

She commended parents, lecturers and other stakeholders for the various forms of investment made during their academic expedition.