A total of 4,154 students who pursued various postgraduate programmes at the University of Cape Coast (UCC) have graduated at the 58th Congregation of the University.
At the 9th session, 1,904 graduates who pursued programmes in Master of Arts, Master of Business Administration, Master of Science, and postgraduate diplomas graduated.
The 10th session had 2,250 graduates made up of 128 PhD, 327 MPhil, 39 MCom, 5 Master of Nursing (MN), 7 Executive MBA, and 1,744 Master of Education (MEd).
Addressing the congregation, the Acting Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Denis Aheto, underscored the urgent need for strategic intervention and investment in student housing infrastructure.
Some graduate students at the ceremony
He said that the UCC Governing Council had considered a comprehensive proposal aimed at guiding strategic partnerships and sustainable financing mechanisms for student housing development.
"This initiative represents a significant step toward resolving the accommodation challenges in a sustainable and forward-looking manner," he said.
He, therefore, called on development partners, investors, and all relevant stakeholders to come on board to address the situation.
Prof. Aheto called on government to give financial clearance to UCC to recruit additional academic staff, saying the recent GTEC directive on retirement had affected 38 academic staff involving senior faculty in the ranks of professors, associate professors, and senior lecturers.
He lauded the partnership between UCC and the Ghana Police Service which had seen a total of 433 senior officers graduating with postgraduate diploma in security studies.
" I commend the graduating officers for their dedication, discipline, and resilience. I also express my appreciation to the leadership of the Ghana Police Service and our faculty for their unwavering support of the course 53 programme," he added.
Prof. Aheto announced that UCC through the College of Agriculture and Natural Sciences and its relevant units led by Prof. Fetus Annor-Yeboah was implementing a 10-year Transforming Africa’s Agricultural Higher Education Institutions for Economic Growth and Development Phase II (TAGDEV 2.0) programme. This is a strategic partnership between Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM) and Mastercard Foundation, supported by a grant of $6 million which began in January 2024.