At 19th Matriculation

The Kumasi Polytechnic has formally out-doored three new faculties at the institution’s 19th Matriculation ceremony. The new faculties are the Faculty of Medici ne and Health Sciences, Faculty of Built and Natural Environment and the Faculty of Creative Art and Technology.

This brings the number of faculties and institutes at the Polytechnic to seven. The others are the Faculty of Applied Science, Faculty of Business and Management Studies, Faculty of Engineering and the Institute of Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Development.

At the matriculation, a total of 3,210 students were admitted by the Polytechnic to pursue various courses leading to the award of Bachelor’s degrees, Higher National Diploma (HND) and other non-tertiary qualifications for the 2011/2012 academic year.

Out of the 3,210 students admitted, 2,092 were males while the remaining 1,118 were females.

Compared to the 2010/2011 academic year, the number admitted this year has fallen very significantly.

The Polytechnic, in the last academic year, admitted 3909 students which comprised of 2,681 males and 1,228 females.

In his matriculation speech, the Rector of the Polytechnic, Professor Nicholas Nsowah Nuamah welcomed the freshmen and women to the institution but warned them not to take their newly found freedoms in the tertiary level for granted. Professor Nuamah said: “For the first time you are being treated as adults and will be allowed to organise your own life”, and suggested that they apportion their time between work and play equally.

He stressed the need for the students to place premium on their studies and academic persuits and warned that the polytechnic will not hesitate to withdraw any student who does not pull his or her weight.

“It will interest you to note that 85 students were withdrawn for poor academic performance at the end of the last academic year,” said the Rector. Professor Nsowah-Nuamah also implored the students to devote some time to extra curricula activities particularly in sports and leisure so as to be able to relax the body and mind.

The Rector advised the students to comport themselves at all times and consult the Student Handbook while at the same time obeying the rules and regulations of the polytechnic.

“The Kumasi Polytechnic does not compromise on the enforcement of its rules and regulations,” and “I urge you to read the Students Handbook with all seriousness so as not to deviate from the rules and regulations enshrined in it,” he added. He said for some of the freshmen and women, their admission at the Polytechnic is the first opportunity to live an independent life and consequently advised them to avoid alcoholism, unbridled sexual activities, indecent and offensive dressing and drug abuse.

Professor Nsowah-Nuamah further advised them to avoid uncouth behaviours such as abusive language, fighting, pilfering and stealing and warned that the consequences of such acts could be outright dismissal and in some cases prosecution.

“The Polytechnic is a much civilised society and you must be civilised to maintain your membership,” the Rector warned.

He noted that the process of learning in a tertiary institution should contribute most significantly to the process of character building and moral training.

“Every good scholar will necessarily acquire intellectual honesty integrity, respect for views other than his/her own, modesty, perseverance and all the other traits of character that go to make an educated and cultured individual,” Professor Nsowah-Nuamah said.

He emphasised that, no matter how brilliant a scholar is, without integrity, good character and honesty, he or she cannot be an asset to him or herself, his or her society or to his or her country.

of the polytechnic to pursue various courses of study