Nusrat Jahan Ahmadiyya College of Education, Wa has held its 5th graduation ceremony to confer Diploma of Basic Education (DBE) Certificates on graduates who completed in the 2019 and 2020 academic years.
In all, a total of 743 students comprising 409 and 334 of the 2019 and 2020 batches respectively completed their courses of study in the three mainstream programmes pursued in the college namely General, Science and Technical Programmes.
Addressing the occasion on Saturday, 12th June, 2021 at the auditorium complex, Hajia Asma-U Ismail, the Principal of the the college, said the 2020 cohort of graduates was the last batch to graduate from the institution with Diploma in Basic Education as the DBE programme phases out the college system.
For the first time in the college according to Hajia Asma-U Ismail, the number of First Class Honours have gone up from six (6) in 2019 to eight (8) in 2020 representing a percentage increase of 33%.
“The final results of our graduates have consistently improved since I took over the administration of the college in 2014. The first ever first class honours was recorded in 2015 and by a female student, since the award of Diploma in Basic Education Certificates commenced in 2007.”
As the college prepare towards achieving the full status of a University, the Principal noted that the college is focused in the following areas; recruitment of highly qualified staff, continuous professional development of staff, introduction of new programmes and infrastructural development.
She said since 2016, the college has vigorously pursued the recruitment of academic staff to be able to teach the new courses rolled out by the college.
“Twenty (20) Tutors were appointed bringing the teaching staff strength from 30 to 50 as at today. Currently, Management is seeking to recruit more specialized tutors to support produce quality teachers in the next academic year.”
The Principal further indicated that management has made frantic efforts to fill 80 vacancies of non-academic staff through a request from the Ministry of Finance.
Currently, the total student population of the college stands at 1,119 with the breakdown as follows: 564 Level 100, 282 Level 200 and 273 Level 300 all studying the Bachelor of Education Programme. The gender distribution is 591 male and 528 female students with ratio of approximately 53 percent is to 47 percent respectively.
With the introduction of the new four (4) year B.E.D programme in 2018, Hajia Asma-U Ismail lamented over the pressure on the limited infrastructure available while pointing out that the situation may cause a reduction in students intake in subsequent years if the existing infrastructure are not expanded or new ones added.
The Principal therefore admonished the graduates to render selfless service to the community and aspire for higher certificates.
The ceremony was attended by the Upper West Regional Minister, Dr Hafiz Bin Salih as guest of honour, the Ameer (Head) and Missionary-in-charge of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission, Ghana, Alhaji Maulvi Mohammed Bin Salih, officials from development partners like Transforming Teacher Education and Learning (T-TEL), chiefs and a host of dignified personalities across the region and country as a whole.