Private universities should benefit from GETFund – VVU Past President
Pastor Dr Seth Abang Laryea, immediate past President of the Valley View University (VVU), has urged government to consider enlisting private tertiary institutions as beneficiaries of the Ghana Education Trust Fund (Getfund).
This, he said would help lessen the financial burden on the schools and enable them to improve upon their academic facilities and infrastructure.
“We will be enthused if government could allocate to private institutions some amount of money from the GETFund for infrastructural development,” he stressed.
Dr Laryea was speaking at the weekend, during a send-off service organised for him by the university authorities.
He noted that there is a lot of pressure on the fees charged by private universities usually meant for infrastructural development and the payment of salaries.
Dr Laryea expressed appreciation to those who worked with him in his quest to transform VVU, when he took over the administration of the University 18 years ago.
He urged the students to uphold Christian virtues being practiced by the Seventh Day Adventist Church.
Dr Laryea observed that although being at the helm of affairs at the VVU had not been easy, he was happy about the successes the university had chalked out, including a remarkable improvement in students enrollment, which shot up from eight students in 1992 to more than 3,000 in 2010.
“We thank God for allowing challenges to come our way, for without them, there would not be successes,” he added.
Professor Dr Daniel Bour, the new Vice Chancellor of VVU was full of praise to Dr Laryea for his contribution towards the growth of the Adventist education in the country as well as his humility, dedication and perseverance.
“Out of the 31 years of Valley View University’s existence, Dr Laryea is the longest serving Chief Executive Officer with 18 years of service without break. We wonder if anyone can break this record in future,” he said.
Prof Bour said he has no doubt left for generations of chief executive officers to come of a legacy of leadership perseverance, commitment, respect of educational heritage and service.
Some of the achievements of Dr Laryea towards the growth of VVU included the attainment of accreditation of the academic facility in 1997, a Presidential Charter in 2006, affiliation with a number of foreign universities and the opening of the school’s Techiman campus.
In 2007, Dr Laryea became the first recipient of the National Honours Awards (Officer of the Volta -Private Higher Education category).
He also masterminded the construction of a permanent campus for the university at Oyibi.
The university authorities presented Dr Laryea with a number of items, including a car, laptop, cloths and cash.
Source: GNA