THE PRINCIPAL of the Methodist University College (MUCG), Very Reverend Professor S. K Adjepong has bemoaned the seeming apathy of government and supervising Universities to accord the necessary support and encouragement to private tertiary institutions to make the public-private partnership (PPP) maximally productive for the benefit of the country.

He attributed the situation to the fact that some people wrongly perceived all the private Universities as profit-motivated rather than sincere and helpful partners in the provision of higher education.

He pointed out that despite such a perception, the provision of higher education, an indispensable element for national development was not a responsibility which government could shoulder alone, stressing, "Within the last decade, private Universities in Ghana have turned out tens of thousands of graduates and through partnership with public providers of higher education, have created additional access to higher education while introducing diverse curricular options."

Speaking at the 9th Congregation of the institution on Saturday, he lamented that the private University colleges have been literally crying out to government to set up a fund for research and staff development that could be accessed competitively by them but so far there had been no response.

He explained that such a fund need not be of the same magnitude as the one available for public Universities, but "unfortunately, we are not seeing the level of support and encouragement that should characterize such an important partnership."

In view of this, he indicated that government ought to carefully assess what policies would strengthen the entire production of the capacity of the higher education sector and move to implement such policies, even if it meant providing financial subsidies to private providers.

To further demonstrate the relevance of private institutions, he said the total enrolment of students at MUCG increased from 213 in November, 2000, to 5,647 at the end of the 2010/2011 academic year with 4,876 students at the Dansoman campus in Accra, 549 students at the Tema campus and 222 students at the Wenchi campus.

The total number included 333 postgraduate students pursuing programmes leading to Master of Business administration (MBA), Master of Philosophy (M.phil) and Masters (MA) degrees, he revealed.

He also announced plans by the Department of Religious Studies to deliver its academic programmes additionally by distance education at the beginning of the next academic year to reach more students across the nation.

Professor Adjepong further announced that the University College would soon establish a satellite campus in the oil city of Takoradi in the Western region, saying, "The University College is in the process of preparing a business plan for the establishment of the campus and initially offering business disciplines there."

Additionally, he said the institution offered community service as a way of giving back to society in diverse ways such as the establishment of a Technology Village by the faculty of Agriculture at the Wenchi campus, in collaboration with the International Fertilizer Development Centre (IFDC).

This was to facilitate the improvement of agricultural production by demonstrating to farmers in the area the correct usage and effectiveness of agrochemicals, and has also offered to provide training, at cost, in agriculture, horticulture and agro-processing to the youth under government's youth in agriculture programme in Wenchi.

He told graduands that they were passing out at a time when civil strife and conflict abound in many countries, especially in Africa, hence "go out there boldly and make a positive change, serving your country with humility and integrity."

On his part, the Guest Speaker for the occasion, Managing Director of Prudential Bank, Mr. Stephen Sekyere Abankwa commended the Methodist Church for venturing into the business of private University, to complement the effort of public universities that have been overwhelmed by the teeming number of students applying for admission each year.

He expressed joy that the institution had produced very high caliber of manpower, which was contributing positively towards nation building and for this marked the ninth batch that "MUCG is releasing into the Ghanaian labour market and that of other countries to strengthen the human capital base of our dear nation."

He said it was worth noting that increases in student population at the school also reflected gender balance such that out of the 5,647 students, there were 2,881 females as compared to 2,766 males, representing a ratio of 1:1.04 and expressed hope that the same ratio would be extended to staff strength, which stood at 5.6: 1.0 in favour of males.

He urged Management of MUCG to position itself strategically to be able to meet not only the current demands in the education sector but also have a competitive advantage over its close competitors because meeting the fast changing trends in education could be very challenging.

According to him, "the future looks bright for MUCG but I will like to encourage Management to be more innovative in order to be able to keep pace with the fast changing trends in the education sector, especially, tertiary education."

He mentioned that his bank would consider updating its relationship with MUCG in terms of financial support for its on-going projects such as the ultra-modern Music Centre and the library complex while accepting students for internship at the bank.

He urged graduands to uphold the quest for excellence in every area of endeavour in service to God and country, saying "endeavour to let your morality shine like the firmament of the stars in the present generation groping in the dark world of sin."

The institution graduated 954 first degree graduands out of which 66 obtained First Class Honours, 213 had Second Class (Upper Division), 522 Second Class (Lower Division), 145 obtained Third Class Honours and 8 obtained Pass.

AllAfrica.com