By Edward Willliams, GNA
Hohoe (V/R), May 30, GNA – Mrs Professor Scholastica Wompakeah Azuah, Principal of St. Teresa’s College of Education (TERESCO), Hohoe, has said the College had since established itself as a beacon of academic integrity and excellence.
“With over six decades of commitment to teacher preparation, the College continues to evolve in response to national priorities and global educational standards”.
Prof Azuah in a speech during the 17th Annual Congregation of the College in Hohoe, said the College’s commitment to academic excellence and professional development had earned it a reputation as a centre of quality teacher education.
She said the College currently offered three main Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) programmes in Early Grade Education, Primary Education and Junior High School Education with specializations in Home Economics, Ghanaian Languages and Mathematics & ICT.
Prof Azuah said the College was proud to be nurturing academically proficient and socially responsive teachers adding that the College continued to prioritise the professional growth of its academic staff through several capacity-building workshops organised within the academic year.
She said the Council approved the promotion, upgrading and confirmation of some hardworking staff including administrators, ground workers and security personnels while teaching staff continued to upgrade themselves with some graduated with MPhils to join the assistant lectureship rank and others preparing to submit and defend their PhDs thesis.
Prof Azuah said several key projects were currently underway including construction of a contemporary hostel facility at the second-floor stage of construction expected to be completed next year to boost students’ accommodation on campus.
She said the College ICT Centre and Library had also undergone considerable improvements; owing to GETFund’s kind contribution through GTEC where 139 machines had been installed with internet connectivity to facilitate e-learning on campus.
Prof Azuah said the College continued to deepen its international presence through its rewarding partnership with KDG University in Belgium.
She said despite notable progress, there were several challenges that demanded urgent attention including a need for a bus for Supported Teaching in Schools (STS) activities.
Prof Azuah said other challenges were the need for the renovation of the College gate which height posted challenges for commuting trucks, poor road network hindering access and daily commuting on campus and water flow which needed much to be desired.
She appealed to government agencies, development partners, alumni, corporate bodies and well-meaning individuals to come to the aid of the College.
She admonished the graduates to remember to be the caretakers who truly saw the children in their care, noticed the ones performing loudly and the quiet ones because presence was not a technique but a gift.
The theme for the ceremony is “Nurturing Disciplined Minds for Sustainable Development: The Teachers’ Role”.
Professor Eric Debrah-Otchere of the University of Cape Coast and a member of the Governing Council of TERESCO, urged the graduating class to think about how they could continuously have a growth mindset to improve themselves and to adapt to learning, using all the available technology and the skills to make themselves relevant in the increasingly changing world.
He said although there were a lot of people who got into the teaching profession just as a bypass, the graduating class must think about the fact that the profession was really noble and the gains of a teacher were not just in the wealth or the immediate gains.
Prof Debrah-Otchere urged the graduates to build good networks with the need to recognize all the stakeholders who mattered and would help them to deliver since they were not stand-alone.
He said the children they were going to teach belonged to the community and as teachers, they needed to recognize it, be mindful and think about how they liaised with all the stakeholders and not cut them out in order to improve the output and the impact that they had.
A total of 147 students graduated with 15 receiving First Class, 77 receiving Second Class Upper, 48 with Second Class Lower and seven with Third Class honours.
Togbe Adzofowusu IV, Divisional Chief of Gbi-Atabu representing Togbega Gabusu VII, congratulated the graduating class on their achievements and wished them well in their future endeavours.
He said the traditional leaders in the Area would continue to support teachers and schools to enhance improvement in educational outcomes in the Municipality.
GNA
Edited by Maxwell Awumah/Kenneth Odeng Adade
Writer: Edward Williams
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