Newly inducted President of the Garden City University College (GCUC) at Kenyasi in the Ashanti Region, Professor Edward Kwame Asante, has appealed to the government support private universities.
Professor Asante, who succeeded Dr. Wilhelmina Joseline Donkor to become the 4th President of the GCUC, said assisting private universities in Ghana should be a regular business of the government since taxes paid by Ghanaians are used by the government to subsidize the cost of public universities.
According to him, government’s support for private universities can come in the form of scholarships, research grants, teaching and learning resources as well as subsidies for infrastructure expansion.
He made the call at his induction ceremony and the 13th matriculation of the University College.
Speaking on the theme for the investiture, “Planning for Innovation, Transformation and Change”, he urged stakeholders to identify higher education innovations and develop a new model for the 21st-century university college.
He said, “with our focus on student success, new ways must be found to reach the current generation of students, using technology to the fullest, such as developing technology-driven programmes using a blended learning approach through distance learning to increase access by enabling students to combine their studies with work, family and social responsibilities, and linking coursework to real practical workplace experiences.”
He pledged to collaborate with the faculty, staff and students, and also provide enterprise and participatory leadership to inspire, motivate and empower the University College Community.
“I look forward to working with you in identifying and implementing many innovations, transforming our students, Kenyase and the University College, and changing the way we do things to achieve excellence and realize the vision of making Garden City University College (GCUC) a prominent private university in Ghana and globally”.
About Prof. Edward Kwame Asante
Prof. Edward Kwame Asante previously served as the Director, Institute for Educational Development and Extension (IEDE) at the University of Education, Winneba (UEW). IEDE comprised the Centre for Distance Education (CDE), with 38 Study Centers, the Centre for Continuing Education (CCE) and the Centre for Teacher Development and Action Research (CETDAR); and had a student population of 18,434, teaching staff of 1,420 (full-time & part-time) and support staff of 56 across the ten regions of Ghana.
Prof. Kwame Asante has twenty (20) years (1998-2018) of university teaching, research, leadership and administrative experience. He joined UEW as a teaching assistant in the Department of English Education, and subsequently became the head of CETDAR for seven years, head of Early Childhood Education for two years, Vice Dean, Faculty of Educational Studies for two years and Director, Institute for Educational Development and Extension (IEDE) for seven years. He has also served as the Institutional Representative of the Open University of UK’s Teacher Education in Sub-Saharan Africa (TESSA), as well as the Director of the African Virtual University (AVU) Centre in UEW.
The occasion was also used to honour the immediate past President of the University College, Dr. Wilhelmina Joseline Donkor for her contribution.
Director at the Division of Dental Therapy at the University of Minnesota was also honoured for supporting the Dentistry Department of the GCUC.
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By: Hafiz Tijani|Citinewsroom.com|Ghana