Lack of integrity, bane of developing countries
The Vice-Chancellor of the Valley View University (VVU), Prof. Buor, has observed that the problem of developing countries is not the lack of natural or human resources but integrity.
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He said it was against that background that Adventist education went beyond preparing students for life to preparing them to build a character based on morality and spirituality.
The Vice-Chancellor, who made the observation at the fourth matriculation ceremony of the Techiman Campus of the VVU in the Brong Ahafo Region, indicated that the university was making significant progress in academia.
He explained that the January 2013 ranking of universities by the 4 International Colleges and Universities (4icu) ranked the VVU the fifth best university and the best private university in the country.
A total of 1,196 fresh students, comprising 892 males, representing 74.58 per cent, and 304 females, making 25.42 per cent, were matriculated, bringing the student population on the campus to 3,200.
This year’s enrolment falls short of the 2012 figure of 1,461 by 18.13 per cent, while the enrolment of distance and sandwich students dropped significantly.
The VVU Techiman Campus was started on July 2009 after the Techiman Secondary/Technical School had been phased out.
Prof. Buor said to ensure the maximum use of residential facilities, efforts should be made to increase the admission of regular students, adding that those admitted had the privilege of holistic education which should prepare them for life.
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He explained that the university prosecuted an educational philosophy that embraced a person’s whole development, saying, ‘‘This involves the harmonious development of the physical, mental and spiritual faculties of a person which, indeed, subsumes character development.’’
Prof. Buor pointed out that education had generally emphasised the academic dimension to the neglect of the spiritual development.
‘‘This is partly evident in the prizes awarded during speech days of pre-tertiary schools and congregations of universities in which academic performance is the emphasis,’’ he said.
The Rector of the Techiman Campus of the VVU, Prof. J.K. Osei, noted that the campus was making a significant impact on the Techiman community in several respects, saying that within its four-year existence, it had embarked on a number of interventions to improve teaching, learning, research and extension in its agribusiness programme.
That, he explained, included a 10-acre citrus plantation which had started bearing fruits, a fish pond with actively growing tilapia, a poultry unit providing eggs for the students, as well as an apiculture and mushroom units currently under construction.