The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana (UG), Professor Nana Aba Appiah Amfo, has inaugurated three modern classrooms to help facilitate teaching and learning in the institution.
The classrooms — an upgrade of the existing ones, are equipped with interactive screens, audio visual connectivity, cameras, teaching and learning software among others to allow students have real time lectures and interactions without necessarily being in the lecture halls.
The facilities, are located at the Oracca Tetteh/ Larwey Building &Staff Learning and Resource Centre at the Legon campus, the Basic Science Block at the University of Ghana Medical School at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital (KATH) and the Accra City Campus.
Commission
Inaugurating the facilities, Prof. Amfo explained that the facilities would help address the challenge of congested lecture halls and the school’s inability to admit qualified students yearly due to accommodation constraints.
The ceremony was part of a tour of the facilities led by the chairperson of the board of the university and former Chief Justice, Sophia Akuffo, the Provost of the College of Health Sciences, Prof. Julius Fobil; the Registrar of the UG, Emelia Naa Agyei-Mensah and other staff members of the university.
She explained that the facilities were undertaken under the classroom modernisation project.
Initiative
The initiative, Prof. Amfo said, was a long-term project aimed at modernising teaching and learning facilities and expanding access to students.
With that initiative, lecturers and students would have access to modern technology, while allowing them to bring new resources from all over the internet to the classroom.
She indicated that what was being inaugurated was the first phase of the initiative as the second phase was underway.
Prof. Amfo stated that, “this would additionally manage numbers so that we don’t have overcrowded classrooms where students can be at various points and tune in to the classroom.
“Even when lecturers have to be away for conferences and so on, they would still be able to deliver lectures to students, “ she explained.
While charging management and students to ensure that a consistent plan was placed to maintain the equipment, Prof. Amfo assured that there were other projects such as
one student one laptop and also the hotspots comfort zones that were going to be implemented.
Support
The former Chief Justice, Sophia Akuffo, expressed satisfaction at the work done to improve and strengthen the educational systems in the institution.
While commending the 1996 year group of the alumni association for donating the classroom at the Basic Science Block at the University of Ghana Medical School at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, she called on other year groups to contribute their quota in ensuring that the institution remained functional for other generations.
Expansion
Prof. Fobil commended the initiative, explaining that it was an effective measure to alleviate the accommodation needs of the institution.
He added that as a college, they were engaging other existing hospitals and institutions to collectively expand the admission intake to 1,000 students from the next academic year.
“So we are looking at the use of technology to expand the intake of students into the college and institution generally”, he said.