Prempeh Tops the Official KNUST Rankings for 2005/06
Friday, September 30, 2005
The following is the official KNUST schools
ranking as released by the head of the University, Prof. K. Andam.
KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY
OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY,
KUMASI, GHANA
MATRICULATION 2005 ADDRESS
PROFESSOR KWESI ANDAM
Vice-Chancellor
17th September, 2005
VC/34/05
Great Hall, KNUST
Prof. K. Andam, KNUST Vice-Chancellor announcing that Prempeh is number 1 again
1. SALUTATION
University Council Members
Your Excellency, the High Commissioner of Nigeria
Pro Vice-Chancellor
Registrar
Provosts of Colleges
Deans of Faculties
Hall Masters & Warden
Heads of Department
Members of Convocation
Senior Staff & Junior Staff
Headmasters & Headmistresses
Parents & Guardians
SRC President and SRC Executives
Junior members in Statu Popullari
Ladies and Gentlemen of the Press
Ladies and Gentlemen
2. MATRICULATION AT KNUST
This morning, we have assembled here for the matriculation ceremony, an old
tradition of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. It is
customary for me to take time, every year, to explain the significance of the
meaning of Matriculation. Matriculation is an old tradition of the worldwide
family of Universities dating back 800 years. In the days of Aristotle (322B.C –
384B.C) and Plato (428B.C – 348B.C) university education was informal.
Students of Aristotle, Plato and other ancient philosophers were enrolled to sit at
their feet and listen until they felt they had learnt enough. They the students
simply left. So enrolment and graduation were not formally celebrated.
This informal university education continued until 800 years ago when the world‘s
first university, the University of Bologna was started in Italy. It was followed by
the University of Paris, the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge.
At these early universities, the tradition of MATRICULATION began. Since then,
two important dates in the life of a university student have come to stay -
Matriculation (that is the day the university student enrols) and Graduation or
Commencement (that is the day the university student completes the program of
studies to commence a career).
This morning, the KNUST Professors will present you to take the Matriculation
Oath. Four or six years from now, the same KNUST Professors will proudly
present you to be graduated at a Congregation Ceremony.
3. THE MATRICULATION OATH
When you take the Matriculation Oath today 17th September 2005, you will be
required to avail yourselves to a regime of excellent opportunities. These
opportunities comprise lectures, tutorials, laboratory work, studio work, hands–on
skills, fieldwork all delivered and supervised by world-class experienced
professors. The pedagogy will prepare you for a future lucrative career, the quality
of which is compared with that of the world’s top universities. This is the
University that the world’s top civil servant, His Excellency Kofi Annan the UN
Secretary General once matriculated like you are doing this morning.
Matriculation also means a watershed between a secondary school and higher
education. You have clearly matured this morning and we have invited a cross
section of headmasters, headmistresses and parents to witness the ceremony.
At KNUST, we apply two historic Latin phrases to emphasise your new standing
in society namely:
In statu pupullari: (of the status of a matriculated student)
In loco parentis: (in place or on behalf of parents)
4. A NEW RESTRUCTURED KNUST
This is the first Matriculation Ceremony since the University was restructured into
six colleges. You must therefore feel proud that you are the first students to be
matriculated into a university that has all the features of a world-class modern
higher institution of learning.
The six Colleges are:
i) College of Agriculture and Natural Resources
ii) College of Architecture and Planning
iii) College of Art and Social Sciences
iv) College of Engineering
v) College of Health Sciences
vi) College of Science
Each of you belongs to a college, headed by a Provost. This morning, you have the
privilege to meet your Provost.
In your college, you will be assigned to your Academic Tutor whom you must
make appointment to meet at least TWO times in a semester. All your problems in
academic matters must be referred to him/her. Your department also has a Head of
Department and all matters that can not be solved by your Academic Tutor will be
referred to him. There is also a Dean of a Faculty to which your Department
belongs. In the unlikely circumstance that your academic problems cannot be
solved by your Academic Tutor and Head of Department, the Dean or the Provost
of the College will be contacted. You will see from this arrangement that the
University is unique and provides you with adequate help to enable you succeed in
your career. You must NEVER indulge in examination malpractices. You will
always be caught if you did that because we have excellent invigilation resources.
The only way we will sack you from the University is by indulging in such acts.
5. ADMISSION FOR 8000 STUDENTS IN 2005
Out of 16,463 qualified students who applied to enter KNUST, 8,594 were given
admission. This number included 470 foreign students. The total student
population is now expected to be 21,443. You must feel very proud that you are
among the 21,443 students of the KNUST.
6. KNUST ADMITS 659 LESS ENDOWED STUDENTS IN 2005/2006
In 2003, KNUST pioneered a national policy to admit students from the so called
less endowed senior secondary schools. Our policy in 2005 was to offer admission
for the best two males and two female students in every less endowed senior
secondary school
There are 295 senior secondary schools categorized as less endowed. KNUST has
admitted the following numbers of less endowed students in the last three years:
2003/2004 - 59
2004/2005 - 329
2005/2006 - 656
The 656 students from the less endowed senior secondary school whom we have
admitted this year are among the most brilliant students in Ghana. They come
from 200 secondary schools in Ghana distributed evenly in all the TEN regions of
Ghana. The 656 students include THREE from TUOBODOM SECONDARY
TECHNICAL and TWO from JINJINI SECONDARY SCHOOL. KNUST loves
and respects all the people of rural Ghana.
From our records, the 388 students we have so far admitted from the less endowed
secondary schools have excelled in their various programmes. Majority are in the
first class and second class upper division.
7. KNUST ADMITS MORE WOMEN IN 2005/2006
KNUST has begun to admit more female students. For 2005/2006, the University
admitted 2,700 females (31.12%) and 5,976 males (68.88%). Last year
(2004/2005), the University admitted 2,260 females (21.11%) and 5,504 males
(70.89%).
The University decided this year when it launched her Corporate Strategic Plan to
achieve a 40% female population by 2014. As a University of Science and
Technology, the present 31.12% and 68.88% is a great achievement as even
similar universities in the Western World where the female population is in the
19% - 25% range.
8. BEST SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN
GHANA
From our records, the top twenty-five senior secondary schools whose students
gained admission into KNUST programmes in this academic year are as
following:
