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School of Continuing and Distance Education Hosts International Conference on Open, Distance and E-Learning

 

 

Group picture of participants

The School of Continuing and Distance Education of the University has organized a maiden International Conference on Open, Distance and E-learning. The conference under the theme: Meeting quality education through open, distance and e-learning took place from the October 22nd-24th, 2018 at the Bank of Ghana Auditorium, University of Ghana.

Prof. Micheal Tagoe, Acting Provost of the College of Education in a welcome address stated that, the world has entered the 4th Industrial Revolution which is driven by ICT. According to him, higher education has a role to ensure Africa takes advantage of this revolution for the development of human capital for socio-economic growth.

Prof. Micheal Tagoe, Acting Provost of the College of Education

Prof Kwame Offei, Pro-Vice Chancellor (Academic & Student Affairs) in his address stated that, education was critical in developing the capacity of individuals and the society. He said, distance education has become more popular in the country as more public and private universities use it as a means of making education more accessible. The Pro-Vice Chancellor was optimistic that the conference would address pertinent challenges confronting distance education and suggest solutions.

Prof Kwame Offei, Pro-Vice Chancellor (Academic & Student Affairs

Emeritus Professor Olugbemiro Jegede, the Founding Vice-Chancellor of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) in his keynote address stated that education was at the heart of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). He bemoaned the current educational system which he said does not help meet the demands of the 21st Century, making it necessary for transformation.  He added that transformation should start from the teachers so that they will be adequately equipped with the needed skills to meet the current demands and global diversity.

Emeritus Professor Jegede opined that there was no need for graduation ceremonies because learning should be a life-long activity.  He also advocated the abolition of examinations arguing that it does not fully demonstrate the abilities of people.  With respect to age limits when employing people, he said this should not be a factor but employers should instead focus on knowledge, experience and ability to perform.

Emeritus Professor Olugbemiro Jegede, the Founding Vice-Chancellor of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN)

Prof. Etienne Ehouran Ehile, Secretary-General of Association of African Universities (AAU) and chairman of the conference admonished that, in reaching out to more people, institutions should not comprise on quality and charged them to be innovative and provide opportunities for all. He expressed the continual support of the Association of African University (AAU) for distance learning.

The Executive Secretary of the National Accreditation Board, Dr. Kingsley Nyarko, Mr. Tirso Dos Santos, UNESCO representative to Ghana and Prof. Smile Gavua Dzisi, Vice Chancellor of Koforidua Technical University, were present at the conference. The conference brought together academics from Ghana and across the globe.

Cross section of audience