The University of Education, Winneba on Friday, April 19, 2024 held an investiture for its newly appointed 5th Vice-Chancellor, Professor Stephen Jobson Mitchual.The colorful investiture ceremony chaired by the Chancellor of the University and Paramount Chief of the Effutu Traditional Area, Nenyi Ghartey VII was held at the Jophus Anamoah Mensah Conference Hall of the University and attented by alumni groups, academics, clergy, government officials, traditional rulers, families and friends of the new Vice-Chancellor.He took over from Prof. Mawutor Avoke with a pledge to provide quality leadership to make the University a centre of academic, technical and technological excellence.The 5th and newly inducted Vice Chancellor Professor Stephen Jobson Mitchual in his induction address acknowledged the role of the university in training and shaping quality teachers for the country in the last three decades, adding that there was more room for improvement in protecting and developing its niche area.Prof. Mitchual expressed gratitude to the search committee for settling on him after a rigorous process and pledged to offer a leadership anchored on the core values of the university towards making it a beacon of knowledge through innovation, science, research and inclusive growth.He further promised to tackle pending setbacks of the institution, whilst bridging the gap between university’s top management, staff and students to ensure the institution thrives in academic excellence.The Vice Chancellor and Professor of Wood Sciences said, his vision was to take the necessary steps to establish a strong foundation upon which a University could be a hub of innovation comparable to any other anywhere in the world. This he said was going to be possible with a set of defined strategic indicators constituting the pillars of his vision, including the Programmes on offer, the use of technology, collaborative research, students centered teaching and learning with serious emphasis of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education.Prof. Mitchual announced that his administration was going to prioritize local employment opportunities with 50% of unskilled labour jobs for indigenes and residents of the Effutu Municipality thereby helping to reduce the unemployment situation in the area.The Deputy Education Minister and Member of Parliament for the Assen South Constituency, Hon. Rev. Dr. John Ntim Fordjour who represented the President of the Republic charged all stakeholders of the University to adopt an all-hand-on-deck approach towards building the University and raising it to greater heights desirable by all with pillars on critical thinking, diversity, transformation and stability as the order of the day.He touted that gains made in the education sector since 2017 with emphasis on Government prioritizing the needs of all Ghanaian children by investing over Ghc112billion since its assumption of office to create access for all children of school going ages.Rev. Dr. Ntim Fordjour noted that an average of about 1.4million students have been enrolled in schools as a result of the Free Senior High School Policy with accompanying infrastructure since 2017 including 54,000 enrolled in TVET and Free SHS in the current academic year.The Municipal Chief Executive for the Effutu Municipal Assembly who represented both the Central Regional Minister, Hon. Justina Marigold Assan and the Effutu Member of Parliament, Hon. Alexander Afenyo- Markin in an interview after the induction ceremony urged the new Vice Chancellor to champion the interest of the university.He pledged to use his office to partner and collaborate with the new leadership of the University with a common goal of realizing the educational needs of the Effutu Municipality for her development.
STORY BY: CHARLES BAAH ABOAGYE -ISD
Last modified: April 20, 2024
