Prof. Yankah, who has a long held view that persons with grades D7 and E8 should be accepted to Ghanaian universities insist that such grades do not connote failure.

“We have for several years now been deluding ourselves into thinking that below A1 to C6 – that is those who get D7 and E8—are not qualified to enter into the university. I think we should begin revising our ideas. In countries like Britain, USA, it is individual universities that determine the cutoff point not the government.”

[contextly_sidebar id=”WwPlS5c6ML2a6Z0N5Om3o2IwVKHRj2Ou”]“I think we should table the whole idea about who qualifies to enter into the university. There is a huge number of boys selling dog chains and iced water on the streets who could be in the university. But we have imposed on ourselves that they have failed. I’m not talking about those who get F9, call them failure if you want to, but D7 and E8, these are not fail grades. We should bring the topic back as a national debate,” prof. Yankah said in an interview on the Citi Breakfast Show on Monday.

When asked whether he was making such a call because some private universities struggle to admit qualified students Prof. Yankah said “absolutely no.”

I can’t bulldoze my way through

Prof. Yankah also explained that, although he is in government, he cannot bulldoze his way through because it could create some uproar in the country.

“I don’t want to make a pronouncement on it. There has to be a shared national consensus on it. Let me come tomorrow and say D7 is now accepted and there will be a whole hullabaloo on it,” he added.

Public Universities in Ghana are not permitted to accept students who had below grade C6 in any of the subjects from the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).

There have been varied opinions on the matter.

Whereas some believe grades below A6 – C6 especially D7 and E8 do not mean fail [F9], others argue that accepting such grades would mean lowering standards for university education.

Over 70 students sacked

At the St Vincent College of Education in Yendi in the Northern some two weeks ago, over 70 students of the college were asked to go home for using grade D7 they had in English, Mathematics and Science to gain admission.

According to the school, the decision was taken following a directive from the Executive Secretary for the National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE), captured in a letter the school gave one of the affected students and sighted by citifmonline.com.

The letter signed by the Principal of the College, Erasmus Nario Multi said the decision was reached at, during a meeting with principals of public colleges of education “called at the instance of the Minister for Education [Matthew Opoku Prempeh].”

The letter said at the meeting “it was resolved that all unqualified students must be withdrawn from the colleges forthwith.”

“…We have been formally instructed… to withdraw all unqualified students who do not meet the current minimum entry requirements into public colleges of education. It is in line with this directive that we the management of St Vincent College of Education, Yendi are writing to formally inform you that your ward/student….whose submitted grades do not meet the current criterion of entry into a public college of education is withdrawn from the college forthwith,” the letter addressed to one of the affected students added.

–

By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

The post Let’s debate cutoff grade for universities – Prof. Yankah appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

About 470 students who have successfully completed the three-year diploma programs in General Studies, Science and Mathematics were conferred honours in their respective classes of First, Second, Third and Pass.

9 of the students were awarded a first class, 150 and 228 students had second class upper and lower respectively, 73 were awarded a third class with 3 others having a pass.

An additional 8 from previous year groups who couldn’t graduate for one reason or the other were also taken through the ceremony.

Addressing the congregation, the Principal of St Francis College of Education, Mr Raphael Kwadzo Kwashie said the school despite its challenges has over the years made giant strides in the various spectrum of endeavour including extra curricula activities.

“Mr Chairman, the performance of St Francis College among the 40 public Colleges of Education in the Country has been very consistent since the inception of the Diploma in Basic Education Programme.

The College continues to be among the top colleges in the country” he stated.

He added the school has for three successive years presented the overall best performing student from the Volta Zone of colleges of Education including this year’s best graduating student, Mr Evaristus Ametepe.

This he attributed to the dedication and hard work of the staff and students of the school.

The guest speaker, Prof Kwesi Yankah, Minister of State for Tertiary Education commended the school for its feats and called on the graduating teachers to be role models by exhibiting professionalism and self-discipline to transform lives around them and help develop the nation.
–
By: King Nobert Akpablie/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post St Francis College of Education holds 10th congregation appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The network houses a state of the art radio station, a television studio which is yet to be completed and a recording studio.

The radio station dubbed, Radio Central is being broadcast online and can be accessed via www.central.edu.gh.

Speaking at the launch of the multipurpose studio on Friday, the Chancellor of Central University, Dr Mensa Otabil challenged the Communications Studies students to localize the station by aiming at smaller communities and telling their stories.

The Chancellor advised that content and programs should be geared towards a clearly defined audience. ‘’Radio has become frivolous because broadcasters don’t know who they are talking to,’’ Dr Otabil stated.

According to him,  the studio should not aim at speaking to Ghana but addressing issues in immediate communities to be able to develop depth and eventually allow for monitoring of the impacts made. ‘’A great tool has been given to you, don’t waste it, take it seriously’’, he added.

The Head of the Communications Department of the university, Dr Ransford Antwi said he was hopeful new studio will ensure the Department becomes the best among its peers as far as media training institutions are concerned.

‘’There are lots of institutions in the country providing media training but we will not settle for mediocrity’’ he stated.

Dr Antwi however charged the communication students to use the studios efficiently and responsibly and not give in to the trivialities that have engulfed some aspects of the Ghanaian media.

On his part, the Minister of State in Charge of Tertiary Education, Professor Kwesi Yankah who was the special guest of honor was hopeful that the department, which is the country’s youngest, will soon become the most important following the unveiling of the studios.

Prof. Yankah who is also the immediate former Vice Chancellor of the University called on the students to ‘’go beyond newspaper headlines and rather use the platform given to the benefit of surrounding communities such as Prampram, Dawhenya, Ningo.’’

He urged the students to avoid frivolities and relatively combine information and active communication to benefit the community.

The Department of Communications Studies of Central University was established in 2011 and has since seen two batches of students graduate in 2015 and 2016.  Among its mainstream programs are, advertising, public relations, new media, broadcast and print journalism. The department has affiliations with notable institutions in the United States of America, South Africa and Sweden.

Among its mainstream programs are, advertising, public relations, new media, broadcast and print journalism. The department has affiliations with notable institutions in the United States of America, South Africa and Sweden.

–

By: Lorrencia Nkrumah

The post Central University unveils multipurpose broadcasting studio appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.