We will resolve issues militating against peace at UEW— Prof. Obeng Mireku

The Chairman of the new Governing Council of the University of Education, Winneba (UEW), Professor Obeng Mireku, has assured President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and other stakeholders that the new council will resolve all issues to ensure lasting peace at the university.

According to him, the council will take a critical look at all the petitions received from all aggrieved parties at its subsequent meetings to address all the issues which seem to be militating against peace at the UEW for some years now.

“This task appears daunting but the council will work conscientiously to surmount any challenges that may be encountered,” he said.

Congregation

Addressing the first session of the 24th Congregation of the UEW at Winneba last Saturday, Prof. Mireku noted that the council was committed to resolving all outstanding issues at the university to promote peace and unity.

The graduation, which was held over a three-day period, saw of a total 9,005 students from the Winneba and Ajumako Campuses graduate.

He noted that the council would also make all efforts to resolve the outstanding issue regarding the pro-vice-chancellor election which had to be called off due to a court injunction filed by Mr Frimpong Kaakyire Duku, the UEW Local Chapter President of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG), at the Winneba High Court.

Acting position

Prof. Mireku indicated that in the interim, Professor Mrs Ruby Hanson had been appointed as the acting Pro-Vice- Chancellor, stressing that the alumni election slated for May 11, 2019 which was called off due to misunderstanding among the candidates had to be resolved as soon as possible.

The congregation, which was supposed to be held in July, was postponed indefinitely by management due to the absence of a Governing Council.

The tenure of the last council expired on July 17, 2019 and as of July 19, no new council had been reconstituted.

The situation left management with no option but to postpone the 2018/2019 students’ graduation ceremony which was pending.

Projections

The Council Chairman stated that the UEW would remain focused on its mandate to be the leading teacher training university in Ghana, saying that the UEW would continue to expand in both infrastructure and human resource to cater for the increasing student population.

“We are determined to sustain this continued expansion of resources and faculties in readiness to admit the large number of students who would be coming out of the free senior high school programme in 2020,” he stated.

Prof. Mireku stressed that the UEW intended to match the growth in student numbers and its programmes with the appropriate infrastructural support to create the right balance between the influx of the students and their relevance for personal and national development.

He made a passionate appeal to the government for financial clearance to recruit more academic staff to meet the university’s expanded population and in anticipation of admitting the first batch of the Free SHS policy.

Infrastructural development

The Vice-Chancellor of the UEW, Rev. Fr Professor Anthony Afful-Broni, said the university was undertaking massive infrastructural projects to provide state-of-the-art academic environments for both students and lecturers at the university.

He particularly mentioned the construction of a number of lecture blocks with 500 seating capacity at the Winneba and other campuses, lecturers’ block, staff apartments, university hospital, students’ residential facilities, construction of food court and commercial centre, among others, which were dotted across its campuses to enhance teaching and learning.

Rev. Prof. Afful-Broni charged the graduands to take advantage of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) for continuous learning and skills improvement to enable them to be agents of change in the society.

He further urged them to be adventurous, create and build their own jobs to make meaningful contributions towards the growth and development of the nation.