St Monica’s College of Education at Mampong in the Ashanti Region has held its 9th Congregation with the graduation of 358 students.
Addressing the ceremony, the Principal of the college, Mrs Christina Sobotie, mentioned that the percentage of students that passed in all subjects increased from 80.8 per cent in 2015 to 90.6 per cent in 2016, indicating an appreciable improvement in the performance over that of the previous year.
She further indicated that out of the 358 students who satisfied graduation requirement, one, representing 0.3 per cent, obtained First Class, 50, representing 14 per cent, had Second Class Upper, 158, representing 44.1 per cent, had Second Class Lower, 135, representing seven per cent, had third class, with 14, representing 3.9, having a pass.
Touching on challenges confronting the institution, the principal said the college was understaffed as some members of staff had either retired or gone on transfers, while others had passed on without replacement.
That, she said, had led to pressure on the existing staff in their quest to improve quality education delivery pointing out that management had initiated the necessary processes to acquire financial clearance for recruitment of additional qualified staff.
Core mandate
She said it was important for the college to continuously focus on its core mandate of offering quality teacher training education to its students and for the attainment of higher standards in teaching and learning,stressing that the college was highly driven by principles of good governance, accountability and transparency in central administration as several quality control mechanisms were in place to ensure efficient distribution and utilisation of the college’s scarce resources.
She said the Quality Assurance Unit of the college was periodically assessing teaching and learning, infrastructural needs and recommended best practices and sharing of knowledge and skills among staff members as a way of improving standards and performance.
She added that feedback of reports from the unit had resulted in a remarkable improvement in tutor lesson delivery and learning outcomes from students in recent times.
Investments
Mrs Sabotie announced that the college continued to make huge investment in improving physical infrastructure for both academic and administrative activities and mentioned the provision of sustainable water supply, a four-storey lecture hall project and the Students Representative Council (SRC) project as some of the projects, indicating that the 2015/16 year group procured 400 lecture hall furniture to augment what was available, with the 2013 and 2014 year groups respectively presenting 200 and 450 pieces.
The Anglican Bishop of Asante Mampong, the Rt Rev. Dr Cyril Kobina Ben Smith, challenged the graduates to develop their potentials through determination, hard work, attitudes and self-motivation which were derived from vocational and non-vocational, formal and non-formal education.
The Anglican Bishop of Kumasi, the Rt Rev. Prof. Daniel Yinkah Sarfo, who graced the occasion, entreated the graduates to always seek the face of the Lord in all their endeavours and ensure discipline wherever they found themselves.
