Government must support private universities - KAAF founder

The Founder of KAAF University College, Mr. Michael Aidoo says the significant role of private universities in Ghana’s tertiary education sector cannot be underestimated.

Private universities, he said, did not just serve as competitive alternatives but also created congenial platforms to shape and guide the paths of many youth in their quest to attain higher education.

Speaking to the media during the 13th graduation ceremony by KAAF University College, Mr. Aidoo stated that private universities in the country have made significant contributions to the country’s tertiary education landscape.

He was, however, worried that though private university education has become a cornerstone in the tertiary education ecosystem, they still remained funded through private means with no support from the government.

Mr. Aidoo has therefore, made a passionate appeal to the government to critically examine the contributions of private universities to the growth of the counties human development and provide stimulus packages for them.

The proposed support from government, he intimated, could go a long way to assist the universities to expand, secure enough resources and personnel to effectively play their vital roles in the country’s tertiary education sector.

“Both public and private universities are keenly focused and committed to providing quality education to promote intellectual freedom to develop human resources for the country's development" Mr. Aidoo emphasised.

However, the private universities are not supported by government but I can tell you that if we receive support from government, we will be able to do far better”. He explained.

Life after school

Mr. Michael Aidoo reiterated that after successful completion of the university, the 629 fresh graduates from the university were going to face the uncertainties of life particularly, the prevailing level of unemployment among the youth.

However, the graduates, according to the founder, had been adequately trained to have a paradigm shift from the usual status quo of looking up to the government to create employments for them.

He, therefore, counselled them to let their ingenuity prevail in the face of any life adversities and see every challenging situation as an opportunity to create something out.

According to the founder, this would enable them to create opportunities for themselves and others so as to give a true meaning to the training they had received from KAAF University College.

Statistics of graduates.

The thirteenth congregation ceremony witnessed the graduation of Six Hundred and Twenty Nine graduates from the various faculties of the university.

It consisted of 43.4% males and 56.6% females which indicated that this year, more females graduated from the university than their male counterparts.

The Faculty of Health and Allied Sciences recorded the highest number of graduates with four hundred and sixty-six (466) students from its three main disciplines with graduate output of 97.1%.

It comprised two hundred and thirty-three students in General Nursing, one hundred and thirty-six students in Midwifery and one hundred and seven students in Public Health Nursing.

The Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science graduated seventy-nine students made up of twenty-five students in Geomatic Engineering and fourteen students in Mechanical Engineering.

It included twelve students in Civil Engineering, eight students in Construction Technology, seven students in Electrical Engineering and thirteen students in Computer Science with graduate output of the of 100%.

The Faculty of Law and Political Science graduated fifty in Law with graduate output of 75.8%. Meanwhile, the university is yet to graduate students in Political Science.

A total of thirty four students comprising eleven students in Human Resource Management, ten students in Accounting, eight students in Marketing and five students in Banking and Finance, graduated from the Faculty of Business Administration with graduate output of 97.1%.

A further breakdown of the graduates into various classes

Sixty two students graduated with First Class Honours, four hundred and eighty-three had Second Class (Upper Division) while eighty four students graduated with Second Class (Lower Division).

By Naabenyin Joojo Amissah.