GETFund donates to College of Health Sciences

Accra, March 2, GNA - The Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) on Tuesday donated a 58-seater TATA bus valued at 460 million cedis to the College of Health Sciences, University of Ghana, at Korle-Bu. The donation was in response to a request the Ghana Medical School made.

Presenting the bus, Mr Harry Owusu, Member of the Board of Trustees of GETFund, said the Board placed priority on the needs of medical schools in Ghana and had been providing for them for the last two years. He said the University of Ghana College of Health Sciences under which the Medical School functioned for the past two years, had been allocated a total of 6.2 billion cedis for various projects, including the construction of a 200-bed hostel for post-graduate students.

Out of this, he said, the Dental School had also been provided with equipment in addition to a faculty-building project, which was nearing completion.

Mr Owusu stated that in the coming year, the Board had plans to provide funds to support other units under the College such as the School of Allied Health Sciences.

He asked the College to take good care of the bus and ensure its regular maintenance.

The Reverend Professor Andrew Seth Ayettey, Provost of the College, who received the keys to the bus, commended the GETFund for its immense contributions to the College, especially the Dental School at Korle-Bu, which had been provided with chairs to furnish its hall.

Rev. Prof. Ayettey and Mr Owusu toured a number of projects funded by the GETFund in Korle Bu.

These included a 200-student hostel estimated at nine billion cedis, currently under construction, an extension of a 1.7 billion-cedi Dental School and a proposed site for the School of Allied Health Sciences. Rev. Prof. Ayettey expressed regret that the Physiotherapy Department under the College had been neglected over the years and urged government to pay more attention to it.

He said if the seven-floor unit was built, people suffering from stroke, and sportsmen, among others, could be rehabilitated in the Department.

"In addition, the Department would also be able to serve most West African states" he said. 2 March 04