Presby varsity seeks govt support

The president of the Presbyterian University College, Professor K. Sraku-Lartey, has called on government to support the PUC and other private universities in the acquisition of infrastructure in order to facilitate the admission of more students.

He said the University would need support from the government in order to be able to run more of the science courses which come with a lot of cost.

Prof Sraku-Lartey also called on private investors to invest in hostel facilities in order to ensure students gained accommodation near the various campuses to make learning comfortable for them. The PUC President was speaking during a matriculation ceremony of some 1,078 students in Tema on Saturday, November 9, 2013.

The President advised the fresh men and women to be disciplined and urged them not to allow themselves to be influenced by any negative philosophy being propelled by others.

He said the University offered a unique opportunity for growth in the true presbyterian training which would expose them to academic knowledge, character training, civic responsibility, protection of environment and holistic development so that they could make good use of their heads and hands from an honest heart.

He urged the graduands to make good use of the opportunity to achieve something good for themselves and their country.

The Registrar, Kwadwo Amo Osei, who administered the matriculation oath, asked the students to be receptive to all the good things that come their way and shy away from bad influence.

He charged them as well to live by the tenets of the University’s motto: “Discipline in Leadership”.

PUC, he noted, had evolved into a centre for excellence, calling on students to strive towards the achievement of academic excellence so as to make the church proud.

He, therefore, called on the government, philanthropic groups and individuals, resident both home and abroad to assist in the expansion of the college since the church alone could not do it.

He believed that products of PUC would be imparted with knowledge and discipline that would show in their homes and work places since the college was built on Christian values.

PUC started in 2003 with 55 students with only two programmes in Abetifi-Kwahu in the Eastern Region.

Now, its population has grown to 3000 with four campuses across the country while it expects a fifth campus by January 2014 in Kumasi.

Currently, it runs 10 programmes and it’s expected to expand to 20 in the next few years.

It had won several awards to its credit including 2012 Exam Ethics Marshals International Award for Best Practices in Education (Private Universities), Best Private University of the Year 2013 and Best National Service Person Award 2010/2011 was won by a PUC alumnus in the Central Region.

The Presbyterian Church is a pioneer in education in the country. It has hundreds of basic and secondary education centres scattered across the country, spanning over a century.

The church is noted for its discipline and moral values.

Despite the numerous awards and recognition, the PUC like any other institution faces some challenges including lack of accommodation facilities for staff and students, infrastructure, inadequate computers and books for the ICT centre and library, lack of recreational facilities and lack of adequate buses to transport students ,amongst others.

As part of its 10th anniversary celebrations, the PUC held a public lecture on “Rural-urban Migration and Its Dire Consequences” at the Teachers Hall in Accra, on Friday, November 15, 2013.

The lecture was aimed at helping the nation to tackle the issue which was fast becoming a social canker.