UDS is a preferred place for higher education – Akufo-Addo

General news for Sunday, November 15, 2020

Source: GNA

2020-11-15

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has praised the University for Development Studies (UDS) for producing a quality human resource for national development.

“The UDS is no longer a university of last resort but a preferred place for higher education in the country,” he said.

He said that the current dignity status of the University is the result of hard work by management, teaching and non-teaching staff, and all stakeholders, and congratulated them for “transforming the UDS to what it is today.”

President Akufo-Addo spoke this Saturday at the 21st UDS Congregation in Tamale, where a total of 4,683 students of various degrees and postgraduate degrees graduated.

The graduates comprised 1,195 diploma students, 2,673 undergraduate students, and 173 graduate students, of whom six were PhDs.

However, in accordance with COVID-19 security protocols, only graduate students, who earned First Class, numbering 95, and graduate students were physically present for the congregation.

The rest would visit the University later to obtain their certificates.

UDS was established in 1992 as the leading tertiary facility in the northern part of the country and, thus far, had graduated more than 50,000 students, providing critical services for national development.

“Ghana is proud of its achievements. Let me assure you of my government’s continued support for the work you are doing to ensure the growth and development of our country, ”President Akufo-Addo told management.

He touched on the issue of naming UDS after the late President Jerry John Rawlings, and said that while Mr. Rawlings rejected the suggestion in 2017, “at this point when he is gone, it will be up to the people of Ghana to decide whether or not to University should be named after him. “

Professor Gabriel Ayum Teye, Vice Chancellor of UDS, said the University formed a committee mandated to realign its programs and academic staff to give more meaning to its collective determination to introduce market-driven programs to address human needs. criticism of the country. .

He said that in line with that, new faculties and schools have been created, namely; Faculty of Public Health, Faculty of Dentistry, Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Faculty of Veterinary Sciences.

The others are the Faculty of Sustainable Development, the Faculty of Biosciences, the Faculty of Physical Sciences and the Faculty of Law.

Referring to promoting access to tertiary education, the CV said: “In line with our commitment to bringing education to the gates of Ghanaians, the University has so far established a total of 19 distance education centers in eight regions from the country”.

He advised the graduates to put the acquired knowledge into practice, create their own jobs and opportunities, and be diligent in all efforts for the development of the country.