Architects to strive for excellence

The acting Registrar of the Architects Registration Council of Ghana (ARC), Mrs. Stella Naa Dzagble Arthiabah, has announced that its Continuous Professional Development Programme will soon be made mandatory for all architects.

In addition, she said, the ARC will from this semester collaborate with the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) on lecturing relevant topics in the Professional Practice and Management course.

This, she explained, is to get “all architects to be abreast with new and current information necessary to make informed decisions and offer the best service to clients.”

She further noted that, globally, buildings of public interest and of an iconic nature are subject to Architectural Design Competitions, and recommended that “We could start ... with the new airport the government is speculating of building at Dodowa”.

Mrs. Arthiabah made the announcement on Thursday in Accra, during the 13th Induction Ceremony of the ARC.

In all, 23 Probationers were inducted out of 63 candidates who sat for the 2012 Professional Practice Examination (PPE) conducted by the ARC.

The induction ceremony is a major event on the ARC’s calendar which bridges the academic and professional life of every architect.

It climaxes six years of academic qualification at the university, a minimum of two years coaching and apprenticeship under a qualified senior architect, and passing the PPE to gain state licencing.

This year’s ceremony, attended by key stakeholders of the built industry and kinsmen of the inductees, saw Ms. Afua Asantewaa Temeng adjudged the Overall Best Candidate for the 2012 PPE.

Mr. Henry D.L. Yartey, chairman of ARC, expressed disappointment at the 2012 PPE results, blaming the situation on factors such as “lack of seriousness and commitment by probationers (candidates), lack of submission to supervision for good tutelage, and the “get-rich-quick syndrome” of candidates.

He said although the Council has instituted measures to ameliorate the failure rate, it will nevertheless take “the enquiry deep down to the source of training and the quality of material that are selected for the training”.

Mr. Yartey therefore charged the new inductees to in their professional lives remain focused, set the right goals and design sharp strategies to achieve them.

Prof. Emeritus Elizabeth Ardayfio-Schandorf, of the Department of Geography, University of Ghana, also called on the inductees to strive for excellence in their work.

She urged them to professional, committed, honest, and dedicated in whatever they do in order to contribute meaningfully toward national development.

“Focus on your skills to provide excellent services that move the nation forward, and don’t forget to also seek higher-learning and training,” she advised.

Dr. Don-Arthur in his remarks as Chairman for the occasion, called on Architects and industry professionals to work together to bridge the gap between physical development and the public by involving all relevant stakeholders in the design and construction processes.

The Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing, Alhaji Collins Dauda, charged the inductees to be innovative and “think outside the box in order to find solutions to the myriad challenges confronting our dear nation”.

He noted that challenges such as poor environmental sanitation, building in flood-prone areas, traffic congestion, structural failure of buildings, and slum development should be the concern of the inductees.

He applauded the ARC and the Ghana Institute of Architects for taking initiatives to review the 1969 Architects Decree (NLCD 357) and their inputs into the 1996 National Building Regulations (L1 1630), entreating the inductees to embrace “continuous intellectual development” as part of their agenda.