CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY COLLEGE ADMITS 839 STUDENTS (NOV 4, PAGE 11)

THE Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Catholic University College of Ghana (CUCG), Fiapre, near Sunyani in the Brong Ahafo Region, Most Rev. Joseph Osei-Bonsu, has advised students, especially those at the CUCG, to be concerned about issues of social justice and be prepared to champion the cause of the downtrodden and oppressed in the society.
The education that you are receiving must make you work for integral human development. This means that you must be concerned about social, economic and political dimensions of human existence and speak out when necessary,” he stressed.
The Most Rev. Osei-Bonsu, who is also the Bishop of the Konongo-Mampong Diocese of the Catholic Church, gave the advice when he addressed the 9th matriculation of the CUCG, where 839 students were officially admitted to the university to pursue Religious Studies, Education, Economics and Business Administration, as well as Information, Communication and Science Technology (ICST) programmes.
From a total of 50 students in 2003, the total student population of the CUCG now stands at 2,200.
The Catholic Bishop pointed out that, from the beginning the Catholic Church saw its evangelising mission as having both spiritual and material dimensions, and that in line with promoting the material dimension of the evangelisation mission, the church had through all the ages put premium on education.
He explained that, from the earliest times, the church, at great cost and sacrifice, established schools which he noted had enriched humankind and responded to the needs of every time and place, adding, “The Church did all this in order to provide education to the people.”
Bishop Osei-Bonsu, therefore, advised that, as students in a Catholic institution, they must place God at the centre of their lives and realise that they cannot do without Christ and should also seek the understanding of their faith, whether it is Christian or non-Christian.
He said a major characteristic of Catholic academic institutions, was the premium that they placed on discipline and morality, and that, they attempt to inculcate a high standard of morality and discipline in students, and that was why many non-Catholics and even non-Christians send their children to Catholic schools.
Professor James Hawkins Ephraim, the Vice Chancellor of the CUCG, said, the university was marching the significant increases in the student numbers with commensurate academic staff increase and infrastructural development projects with the support of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference, adding that the university was also grateful to the National Investment Bank (NIB) and the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) for being trustworthy and dependable partners.
He pointed out that, having been chosen by the university among the lot, the CUCG had already placed value on the fresh men and women and so they were to be transformed into what he described as, “A royal priesthood, a people set apart to do greater things for God”.
Prof. Ephraim reminded the students that, they came to the university alone and at the end of their respective programmes they would leave alone but added that “If you behave yourselves properly, you may even find your life partner at the end of your programmes,” he stated.