The University of Cape Coast (UCC) has inaugurated an ul­tra-modern training resort and con­ference centre for the College of Distance Education (CoDE) at Agona Nyakrom in the Agona West Municipality of the Central Region.

Situated on a 50-acre land, the facility would serve as an avenue for the training of students and faculty, in addition to the running of short courses and other aca­demic engagements.

The facility comprises 162 standard bed­rooms, 16 executive bedrooms, 10 seminar rooms, and auxiliary facilities such as shops, indoor recreational spaces, a kitchen, and a multipurpose recreational court.

Constituting the first phase of an elab­orate educational project, the facility is ex­pected to witness an expansion in line with the university’s commitment to establishing a satellite campus to run various degree and other programmes.

Inaugurating the facility, the Minister of Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, com­mended UCC for the vision of promoting education at the doorstep of individuals desirous of pursuing tertiary education programme.

He, however, underscored the need for the university and the Ghana Education Service (GES) to develop strategies to en­sure that host communities benefitted from the presence of such educational facilities.

To that end, he called on UCC to extend its Neighbourhood Academic Initiative to communities where the university had a branch campus.

He further reiterated the commitment of the Ministry of Education to creating a comprehensive and robust public educa­tion system from the basic to the tertiary level in the country.

Additionally, Dr. Adutwum explained that the Ministry was facilitating the trans­formation of public schools to ensure the realization of qual­ity basic education, comparable to the best public schools in other countries.

For instance, he said, through the Ghana Ac­countability for Learn­ing Outcome Project (GALOP), the Ministry was assisting schools with learning grants with the intent of providing extra financing.

The Vice Chancellor of UCC, Prof. Johnson Nyarko Boampong, in his remarks, expressed the commitment of management of the institution towards providing quality, equitable, and inclusive university education in the country.

He stated that the resort and conference centre, would open up the area with busi­ness opportunities as well as the promotion of tourism.

He further stated the commitment of management to completing other facilities to augment the training of the nation’s youth for the transformation of the econ­omy.

The Paramount Chief of Agona Nyak­rom Traditional Area, Okofo Okatakyi Nyarko Eku X, who was the chairman for the event, urged management of UCC to consider the running distance education programmes at the facility.

Using the facility as a conference and resort centre alone, he explained, would deny a number of people who want to ac­cess tertiary education through the distance mode.

He stated that: “I am aware that current­ly, the university runs a distance education programme in Diploma in Education from rented premises in Swedru and other places.”