We don’t want freebies, give universities fast internet – GCUC tells govt

Council Chair of the Garden City University College (GCUC), Rolland Akosah has charged the government to initiate tangible steps to upgrade Ghana’s internet broadband services as a matter of national security priority.

He made the call at the semi-virtual graduation of some 629 graduates, a majority of whom did not attend the ceremony, except for first-class graduating students.

Rolland Akosa insisted that the COVID–19 pandemic leaves Ghana with no excuse to upgrade its internet infrastructure to join the league of super speed digital economies harnessing information technology, to offer seamless digital education to its citizens.

He insisted: “the broadband services that make digital education possible must be upgraded in this country. There should be no ifs or buts because if we do not do that, some of our students participating in our distant e-learning platforms cannot participate.”

Making a demand of government, he requested, “We are not asking for freebies, we are asking for an important infrastructure.”

As a small private university, we are doing all we can, to deploy the infrastructure that enables us to educate our students and we need the backup that comes from the Ghana government.”

In an address read on his behalf, the president of the Garden City University College, Prof. Edward Kwame Asante recounted how the school was compelled to swiftly migrate its courses unto the Moodle and Zoom platforms when all schools were ordered to shut down to prevent further spread of the COVID-19 virus among clustered groups.

He pointed out, however, that the unforeseen circumstances have served the positive purpose of exposing education institutions to the reality of blended studies which shifts the focus from overreliance on the physical classroom.

“Now it is clear that technology-supported learning and training is not just an opportunity but a necessity and the whole world now needs to embrace blended learning in one form or another,” Prof Asante noted.

The Kenyasehene, Barima Fredua Agyemang challenged the graduates to be distinguished in offering the highest ethics of professionalism as they deploy their acquired knowledge to impact nation-building.

He cautioned the batch to stay clear of acts of misconduct which he observed, had become the order of the day when graduates gain employment in both public and private sector institutions.

In all, some four hundred and four females and two hundred and twenty-five males graduated from the Business School, the Faculty of Applied Sciences, the Faculty of Humanities and Education, the Faculty of Health Sciences, and the Centre for Open Distance and E-Learning with the best student going to France Nii Gyan who majored in Accounting from the Business School.

The school also graduated its first batch of 7 Dental Therapists from the Dental Therapy course which is the first to be offered by any University in Ghana.

An extremely physically challenged but brilliant student Solomon Evans came out an outstanding student who turned out with first-class honours in BSc Information Technology from the faculty of Applied Sciences.

The pending elections were not lost on the graduation as a Midwifery Graduate from the Faculty of Health Sciences Diana Naa Adukwei Kofie was allowed to perform her own composed patriotic songs on peace ahead of the December 7 elections.