UEW Vice Chancellor expresses worry about low female enrollment
Professor Akwasi Asabere-Ameyaw, Vice Chancellor, University of Education, Winneba, has expressed worry about low female enrollment this academic year into its Asante-Mampong Campus for the College of Agriculture.
Women form only 13.8 per cent of the 438 students admitted this year.
This, he said, is significantly less than the over 20 per cent who gained admission last year into the College, complaining, “This certainly is not encouraging.”
Prof. Asabere-Ameyaw, who was addressing the 16th Matriculation Ceremony for the fresh students at Asante-Mampong, said they were determined to make conscious efforts at ensuring that more females were admitted to realize the 1:1 national desire for male: female ratio.
He also complained about over-stretched facilities and said everything should be done to replace antiquated equipment inherited from diploma awarding institutions established in the 1950s and 1960s.
“These facilities obviously cannot adequately help us train competent teachers that can comfortably face the challenges in the 21st Century classroom.”
To remain competitive in a globalized world, he said: “We need to modernize, to improve student-lecturer ratio, to provide quality modern equipment for our laboratories and workshops, and to refurbish our ICT laboratories.”
Prof Asabere-Ameyaw made an appeal to the government and all who desire quality teaching to support the University.
“Everyone should appreciate that development or training of high calibre teachers and educational administrators as well as conducting relevant quality research that would have significant and sustained effect on education require massive inflow of funds,” he said.
He announced the introduction of a Bachelor’s Degree Programme in Biological Science Education.
This brings the number of undergraduate programmes there to four.
The University also intends to introduce more relevant programmes in Information Communication Technology (ICT), Chemistry and Physics Education.
Meanwhile, 1,729 students were also matriculated at the University’s College of Technology Education Campus at Tanoso, Kumasi.
They were made up of 1,287 males and 442 females. They are pursuing undergraduate and post graduate programmes.
Prof Asabere-Ameyaw advised the students to avoid uncouth and anti-social behaviours.
Source: GNA