He said the faculty and staff members of the VVU were committed to ensuring not only academic progress of its students, but also their moral maturity. Prof Bediako was speaking at a matriculation ceremony of 1, 381 students admitted to pursue post and undergraduate studies in various faculties of the university.

This number, 45.5 per cent of females and 50.5 per cent of males, has 182 Graduate students, 567 at the Faculty of Education, 41 at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, 381 at the Faculty of Science and 65 at the Adult and Distance Education.                    

He said the VVU was committed to a culture of teaching, learning and social interaction among faculty and students that promotes personal growth, independent, critical thinking and innovative problem-solving skills. Prof Bediako said while the university was committed to realizing it’s vision, it was faced with major challenges such as lecture halls, a modern library, students hostels and accounts receivables that keep growing every semester.

He said education was a public cause and private universities were only helping the state to              execute its responsibility with regards to tertiary education, adding that, “this is not to say that government should pay subventions to private universities.”

The Vice Chancellor expressed gratitude to the Government of the New Patriotic Party for its special interest in education, especially the introduction of the free senior high school which will ensure that more young people enrolled and complete secondary education. He urged the Ghana Education Service (GES) to ensure quality teaching and learning, moral discipline and a special focus on science, information and communication technology and visual arts and that the new Teachers Licensing Policy the GES was working on should include professional licensing examination like the ones organized by the Nursing and Midwifery Council and other professional institutions.

Prof Bediako assured the matriculants of the VVU commitment to ensuring their success from admission to graduation and urged them to focus fully on their studies.