Salt University College has celebrated its third graduation with a call for a deeper public-private partnership to secure quality and affordable tertiary education in the country.
The ceremony, held on the University’s premises in Accra, had the theme, “Public-private partnership in delivering quality and affordable tertiary education in Ghana.”
It brought together graduands, families, faculty and partner institutions, including the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) and the University of Cape Coast (UCC), which have mentored and conferred degrees on the college’s students.
The institution graduated a total of 20 students at the event. Eight of the graduands received Master of Arts in International Relations and Diplomacy, while 12 completed the Master of Arts in Leadership and Management.
The graduating cohort represented Ghana and several other African countries, underscoring the college’s expanding continental reach and its commitment to training leaders for diverse professional fields.
The conferment of degrees by its mentor institutions marked another milestone in the college’s development and reinforced its mission to produce principled and competent graduates for Africa and beyond.
Leaders at the ceremony urged government, private institutions and industry actors to strengthen collaboration in order to expand access, protect standards and train ethical leaders for a rapidly growing youth population.
Partnership
In her keynote address, the Head of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at UCC, Professor Georgina Oduro, highlighted the pressure that Ghana’s expanding youth population had placed on public universities and credited the private sector with stepping in at a critical time.
She stressed that partnership did not mean privatisation and insisted that collaboration and complementarity should guide policy.
“Effective partnership requires an efficient governance system that promotes policy coherence,” she said.
Leadership, competence
For his part, the President and Rector of SALT University College, Dr Kodzo Alabo, said the college had not existed merely to distribute certificates but to shape leaders for Africa and the global community.
“Africa does not lack resources. Africa does not lack potential. What Africa has often lacked is ethical, strategic and courageous leadership,” he said.
He added that the institution had insisted on academic honesty, transparent governance and service-oriented leadership.
“Excellence without character is dangerous and intelligence without ethics is destructive,” he said.
Source:
www.graphic.com.gh