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The Management of Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) College of Education in Koforidua -Asokore in the Eastern Region has created on-campus job opportunities for its students especially those in need of financial support.
Over 300 trainee students have so far benefitted from this opportunity and have been paid a total of Ghc127,000 semester stipends while gaining entrepreneurial skills.
In pursuit of this innovation, the college has established a sachet water production factory and a modern bakery that produces and supplies bread and pastries for sale to students and surrounding communities.
The Principal of the college Prof. William Koomson said the industrialization drive is part of the transformational agenda ongoing in the college since he took office in 2019 with the aim to make the college a center of holistic academic excellence in teacher trainee education.
“SEDACO is the first college among the 46 public Colleges of Education to establish industry to sell bread and sachet water to the Public, following the Adventist tradition of holistic education. Our Industries have been established to help our students especially many of those students that come to us every day about the difficulties they are faced in paying their school fees”
“During vacations, students who do farm work, baking bread, water production, security guards and other cleaning jobs on campus got paid as follows; “in 2019 we engaged 56 students and we paid over Ghc28,000 for their engagements and this went towards their school fees. In 2020, we engaged 109 students and we paid over Ghc35,000 for their engagement that went towards their fees. I am proud to tell you, as we speak right now, we have over 133 students this year that have been helped, and we’ve paid over ghc64,000 for their engagement. We are not borrowing money from nowhere; we don’t owe anybody we are doing all these through the prudent management of the IGF we receive”
Apart from using the internally generated funds of the college for its industrialization drive to generate more funds, same has been used to renovate and convert the college’s dining hall to a cafeteria, rehabilitating mini campus stadium, expand and renovate residential halls for female students, renovate college chapel, undertake landscaping and beautification of the campus, planting of grass, flowers, and trees, completed walling of the campus among other ongoing major projects.
The Principal of the College Prof.William Kofi Koomson said this during the 12 Congregation for 2019 and 2020 cohorts of graduands Sunday, August 1, 2021.
He said the college is more positioned to increase intake in the next academic year.
On behalf of the Minister of Education Dr.Yaw Adutwum, the Deputy Minister of Education in charge of TVET Gifty Twum Ampofo commended the Principal of SDA College of Education for innovation and transformation of the school.
He reiterated the commitment of the government to high-quality education stating that education should always aim at transforming the minds to serve society and nation better which the teacher is a critical factor. For this reason, the Minister said diploma programs in colleges of Education have been faced out for bachelor programs.
The Education Minister said the Ministry in collaboration with the various Teacher Unions will soon commence the One-Teacher-One Laptop project to equip teachers as part of the education reform policy.
A formal Member of Parliament for New Juaben North currently the Board Chairman of COCOBOD Hackman Owusu Agyemang who was guest speaker urged the graduands to exhibit the highest professionalism in imparting knowledge into the lives of their students.
He donated Ghc50,000 to support various projects ongoing in the school.
A total of 872 students made up of 391 males and 481 females were graduated bring to a total of about 100,000 the number of teachers churned out by the college since its establishment 60 years ago.
Dignitaries present at the graduation ceremony include Daasebre Prof.Emeritus Oti Boateng Eastern Regional Minister Seth Kwame Acheampong, Members of Parliament for New Juaben North and South, Nana Adjei Boateng and Michael Okyere Baafi respectively,
Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/Kojo Ansah
