Ghana’s training facilities in arts and culture commended

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13-11-08

THE President of Trinidad and Tobago, Prof George Maxwell Richards, has commended the University of Ghana for the establishment of the School of Performing Arts which provides training in the arts and culture.
He said such an initiative did not only go to preserve the traditions of a country but also helped to project them.
“Trinidad and Tobago will learn a thing or two from you and take it back,” he said after witnessing a display of traditional dances performed in his honour by students of the school during a visit to the university as part of his state visit to the country.
Prof Richards, who was accompanied by his wife, Dr Jean Ramjohn-Richards, underscored the need for young people to take leadership positions in tertiary institutions.
That, he said, was because such institutions provided the platform or training ground for the development of future leaders.
He said the University of the West Indies and a number of institutions, including the University of Ghana, shared certain things, adding that the University of West Indies, which began with a single campus, now had other campuses.
Prof Richards said education was the first key to development, adding that “this is a view that is increasingly being shared by many countries”.
He, therefore, stressed the need for adequate attention to be paid to the development of the educational sector.
The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Prof C.N.B. Tagoe, who outlined the history of the university to its present state, said it began as the University College of the Gold Coast in 1948.
He said the university, which was then affiliated to the University of London, became autonomous through an Act of Parliament in 1961, which enabled it to award its own degrees.
He said the mission of the university, among other things, was to develop world-class human resource and capabilities to meet national needs and global challenges.
Prof Tagoe said the university, which had links with more than 200 institutions world-wide, shared things in common with the University of West Indies.
The Dean of the Faculty of Engineering Sciences, Prof S. Sefah-Dedeh, said the establishment of the faculty was to identify new areas which would fit into national development.