Chairman of the Governing Council of the University for Development Studies (UDS), Professor Wayo Seini has said there is an urgent need for a new, development-oriented constitution that decentralizes power, allowing for more decision making at the regional, district, and community levels.
“The review of the constitution would enable citizens to have the power to choose their leaders, organise and mobilise human and financial resources to plan and implement their own development projects,” he said.
“It is urgent that a new constitution should be written under a civilian government that will give more weight to development issues.”
The Council Chair made the remarks at the 22nd congregation of the UDS, which was held at the multi-purpose auditorium of the university’s main campus in Tamale.
He described the attitude of expecting the government to take the initiative at every level as “a lazy model of development” and said a review of the constitution would be timely.
The Deputy Director General of Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC), Dr. Ahmed Abdulai Jinapor commended the university for the quality of graduates that it churns out, saying they make their mark as employees or employers, alike.
He added that the government remains mindful of the challenges encountered by the various tertiary educations in the country, and in view of that an infrastructure up-scaling forum would be held at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) to address issues pertaining to infrastructure at the university level.
“Government, through GTEC, will roll out a centralised application process during the next university application period to provide more convenience and cheaper processing for applicants to the universities,” he said.
This, he asserted, would improve the applicants’ chances to gain admissions and also provide an effective and efficient approach to managing university applications.
Vice-Chancellor of UDS, Prof Gabriel Ayum Teye said in its quest to satisfy the growing demands for higher education, a number of new programmes have been designed to meet the ever-evolving global landscape.
He indicated that some of the new programmes have started receiving approval and accreditation from the GTEC and said the university is in the process of establishing six more satellite campuses in the Bono, Bono East, Ahafo, and Oti regions, which will bring to 11, the number of regions where the school has a presence.
The congregation saw only post-graduate students and the first-class honour undergraduates at the ceremony due to restrictions on public gatherings to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the rest joining online.
A total of 7,293 students graduated as compared to 4,683 in 2020, representing an increase of 60 percent. Out of the number, 154 were postgraduates with 19 being doctoral students. At the undergraduate level, 3,449 graduated from various fields of study. Another 3,690 graduated with diplomas.
The female graduates constituted 43 percent with an indication that management was committed to achieving gender parity in the admission of students to enhance their knowledge in academics. A total of 111 undergraduates obtained first class.
