"Sakawa" not welcome on campus-Vice Chancellor

Accra, Sep 5, GNA-Professor Clifford Nii Boi Tagoe, Vice Chancellor, University of Ghana, Legon, on Saturday warned students not to use any of the universities' internet facilities to engage in cyber fraud, popularly known as "Sakawa".

"Let me at this juncture sound a warning to you all against the perversion of our ICT infrastructure for fraudulent ends, or what is now commonly called "Sakawa," because the university authorities would not shield any student caught in the act.'

Prof. Tagoe who was addressing 9,361 fresh students, who are to pursue various courses at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels at the University near Accra, said: "the university's ICT facilities are to help you achieve academic excellence".

He asked the freshmen and women particularly, the undergraduates to endeavour to seek post-graduate qualifications in order to secure good places on the job market.

"The undergraduate degree is gradually becoming only a first step to getting a good job placement. The job market becomes easier and easier these days with a second degree," he said and added that even in cases where people pursued only the first degree, the industrial world required good quality degree from job applicants.

Prof Tagoe said a report released by the Ghana Employers Association indicated that communication skills, excellent skills in the use of Information Communication and Technology (ICT) as well as creativity on t he part of job applicants were highest in demand by employers.

He urged the fresh students to take advantage of their study at the university to develop such skills in order to book a good place in the job market.

"These are skills that cannot be obtained merely by the course you read, but how well you spend your time applying yourself to the several opportunities available in the university, both inside and outside the classroom," he said.

Prof Tagoe said the university had made a conscious effort in revising the course curricula and introducing new courses to meet growing national needs.

He said over 130 courses had been revised in the university and several others had been mounted to meet growing needs. "There are now bachelor's degree courses in Adult Education and Sign Language as well as professional programmes in Pharmacy and Veterinary Medicine," he said.

Other post-graduate courses newly introduced included Masters of Science Degrees in Petroleum Geoscience and Clinical Trials, higher degrees in Biotechnology and Plant Breeding as well as Graduate-entry programme in the Medical School to assist science graduates become doctors over a reduced duration.

Prof. Tagoe announced a pilot project on course credit system which the university had introduced for the College of Agriculture and Consumer Sciences, the Faculty of Science and the Business school which aimed at facilitating student-lecturer interaction and aiding the process of continuous assessment of students by lecturers.

"It has meant the reduction of class sizes and a slight extension of the regular lecture or tutorial periods. It is our hope that the scope of the pilot will in the next year or so be enlarged to cover the Humanities," he said.

Prof Tagoe said the university had expanded its ICT facilities under two separate projects sponsored by MTN, a multinational telecommunication service provider, and Tsinghua Unisplendour of China for a future ICT-driven Distance Education.

Mr Frank Yeboah, the Acting Registrar of the university, administered the Matriculation Oath to the fresh students. Mr Gideon Nana Kofi Osei, a fresh student, signed the Matricula on behalf of the freshmen and women and expressed gratitude to the university authorities for giving them the opportunity to pursue higher education.

He appealed to stakeholders in the education sector to invest in accommodation facilities in the country's universities to bring relief to wandering and stressed students.

A total number of 16,943 applied for places at the University. 9,321 were admitted.