The Presbyterian University College, Ghana (PUCG) held its 2nd Congregation Ceremony for the School of Graduate Studies on the 14th of March, 2020 at the Okwahu Campus Abetifi.
PUCG graduated 315 students comprising 206 males, and 109 females who had successfully completed their programmes of study in Master of Education in Educational Studies, Master of Arts in International Development Studies, Master of Science in Environmental Health and Sanitation, and Master of Science in Natural Resources Management.
Addressing the Congregation on the theme “Ghana Beyond Aid: The Role of Graduate Studies,” the President of PUCG, Rev. Prof. Emmanuel Adow Obeng said Ghana is blessed with a lot of natural resources which if effectively and efficiently exploited and utilized, will transform Ghana into the status of a developed country in no time.
Rev. Prof. Emmanuel Adow Obeng noted that since independence, Ghana has faced many challenges such as infrastructural deficit, lack of skilled labour, budget deficit, and ill-equipped health and educational facilities, among others.
However, the President of PUCG believes that the utilization of Ghana’s internally generated funds and aids received from Ghana’s development partners have succeeded in moving the development of Ghana higher than how it was at the time of independence.
This notwithstanding, Rev. Prof. Adow Obeng said this has not taken Ghana which is now in the community of middle-income countries, out of the woods.
In line with the economic situation of the country, Rev. Prof. Adow Obeng believes that the developmental agenda of the President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo since he resumed office on 7th January, 2017 to move Ghana to a state of Beyond Aid is critical for the economic emancipation that every Ghanaian so desires.
“The vision of Ghana Beyond Aid is for the Government of Ghana and her people to build a prosperous and self-confident Ghana that is in charge of her economic destiny; a transformed Ghana that is prosperous enough to be beyond needing aid, and that engages competitively with the rest of the world through trade and investment,” the President said.
He acknowledged the measures the government is putting in place to improve upon the growth and development in industry, commerce, agriculture, education and the other sectors noting that “Undoubtedly, government is creating the enabling environment for the private sector to thrive.”
“As a country, we have to make high and efficient investments in infrastructure, education and skills, science and technology. This among other things, will require massive utilization and deployment of indigenous resources, including human resources, in the most creative and efficient manner for rapid socio-economic transformation, and this is where graduate studies come in.” Rev. Prof. Adow Obeng said.
But the President of PUCG believes the goals of Ghana Beyond Aid agenda cannot be achieved without the active participation of the Ghanaian Universities, research institutions and their graduate studies which are at the fore front of research, knowledge creation and dissemination.
Role of Graduate Studies in Achieving the Ghana Beyond Aid Agenda