Catholic Univesity lobbies private investment for improved infrastructure

Professor Daniels Obeng-Ofori, the Vice Chancellor of the Catholic University of Ghana (CUG) has lobbied for private investor partnership to improve the university's infrastructure development and meet the growing student demand.He emphasised that the CUG required urgent investment to expand the universities hostel facilities, saying the student population was growing and the hostels were inadequate to accommodate them.That notwithstanding, Prof Obeng-Ofori told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview at its main campus at Fiapre in the Sunyani West Municipality, that the CUG was putting up a 600-capacity pavilion containing lecture and examination halls and 24 offices.Additionally, he said the 2023-2024 Student Representation Council (SRC) was also constructing a walkway and pavement to improve the campus environment.The university alumni have also approved and very soon they would award a contract for work to begin on the construction of a police post to improve security on campus and around the university community, Prof Obeng-Ofori indicated.Currently, the Vice Chancellor said the university had 5,528 student population including this year's academic year admission of 2,042 students, however, expressed worry about inadequate hostel facilities to accommodate the students.'For the private hostels around, the charges are too high for the students. There is one uncompleted hostel, and any interested investor can come and complete it for use,' Prof Obeng-Ofori stated.He explained the university received a Presidential Charter in March 2022, granting it autonomy as an institution that can award its diplomas and degrees.This significant achievement allows CUG to operate independently, further solidifying its status as a reputable academic institution.Since then, Prof Obeng-Ofori said it had introduced several programmes to improve enrolment, saying it has introduced four PhD programmes, beginning August 2024.They include PhD in Educational Psychology and PhD in Administration and Strategic Lea dership for the Faculty of Education, and PhD in Business Administration and PhD in Management Studies for the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.'Even the PhD in Business Administration started in March this year with the first batch of 13 students', he stated, and added 'we were able to provide our own certificates for our graduates in October 2023, re-organise our curriculum and strive hard to meet the benchmark for quality assurance'.Source: Ghana News Agency