President Akufo-Addo Commends UPSA Governing Council For Renaming University After Founder
The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has
commended the Governing Council of the University of Professional
Studies for its decision, in accordance with the Statutes of the
University, to rename the University after founder and first director of
the University, Nana J. K. Opoku-Ampomah.
According to President Akufo-Addo, “It is a most excellent decision,
which has received the approval of the President of the Republic, so
that, once the parliamentary process has been completed, this University
will be called thenceforth the Opoku Ampomah University of Professional
Studies.”
President Akufo-Addo made this known on Wednesday, 25th April, 2018,
when he delivered the keynote address at events marking the 4th special
Congregation ceremony of the University of Professional Studies (UPSA).
The Congregation ceremony, amongst others, also conferred honorary
doctorate degrees on Nana J. K. Opoku-Ampomah, founder and first
director of the Institute of Professional Studies, and the second, Mr.
Ahmad Ahmad, Vice President of FIFA, the world governing body of
football, and President of the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
From relatively small and humble beginnings in 1967, the President
stated that UPSA has become one of the most progressive, public
institutions of higher learning in Ghana, offering both academic and
professional tertiary education qualifications.
He added that after being in existence for 50 years, UPSA has gained
the reputation as the oldest, human resource development institution in
professional accountancy and management in Ghana, with many of its
products in key leadership positions in and out of the country.
“The outstanding work done under the leadership of Nana
Opoku-Ampomah, who braved all odds and courageously sowed the biblical
mustard seed, deserves special commendation,” he added.
President Akufo-Addo assured that his government remains fully
committed to ensuring that all of Ghana’s youth gain access not only to
senior high school education, but also to tertiary education, as they
represent the best ways of equipping the citizenry with the requisite
skills for national development.
“We are aware that adequate funding of higher education has been one
of the challenges of successive governments. At the graduate level,
this, particularly, has become a topical issue in recent times,” he
said.
The President continued, “As part of efforts to deal with the problem
of funding higher education, government has committed itself to the
establishment of a research fund for the sole purpose of funding
relevant and sector-specific research work in our institutions of higher
learning. This is in addition to the Book and Research Allowance.”
Government, the President assured, will continue to support tertiary
institution-industry collaborative programmes to increase opportunities
for practical training and internship.
“We shall promote curriculum development to meet the skills and human
resource demands of industry, create opportunities for work and study,
and make training in entrepreneurship a cardinal component of the school
system,” he added.
Towards establishing the enactment of a law to establish a unified
Commission for Tertiary Education to deal with policy formulation,
implementation and accreditation, the President revealed that the
Ministry of Education will shortly begin implementing recommendations
that will reform university accreditation and affiliation policies in
order to introduce equity and fairness in the establishment of public
and private universities.
He commended the Council and Management of the University of
Professional Studies for placing emphasis on courses relevant to the
needs of the Ghanaian economy, particularly, in the areas of management
sciences, accountancy, marketing, banking and finance, communications,
information technology, law and other related social sciences.
“The establishment of the endowment fund to help the needy, but
brilliant students is also in the right direction. Government, and the
Ministry of Education, under its dynamic Minister, Hon. Dr. Matthew
Opoku Prempeh, Member of Parliament for Manhyia South, will continue to
support you as much as the state of our public finances permit,” he
said.
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