GCTU Holds Ghana’s 1st Virtual Graduation Ceremony
Saturday, 25th July, 2020 saw GTUC make history as it held Ghana’s very first virtual graduation ceremony. The ceremony, which was held at the Eva von Hirsch Auditorium on the GTUC main campus, represented a groundbreaking event as it affirmed the University’s commitment to technology and innovation, particularly amidst the challenges that have been presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.
This special congregation saw a total of 279 graduands being presented, comprising 9 PhDs, 100 Undergraduates and 170 Master’s candidates. Due to the restrictions currently in place as a result of the pandemic, only the PhD graduates were present at the event, with the remaining 270, watching live from their various homes on the Zoom platform, Facebook and YouTube.
Along with staff and management of the University, the Congregation was attended by some Council members, and a special guest in Prof Goski Alabi, the co-founder of Laweh Open University. A host of other key participants also joined the graduation ceremony via Zoom link, including, Prof. Kwasi Preko, of KNUST, Prof. John Latham and Dr. Neil Hart of Coventry University, Prof. Sivaguru Sritharan of Ramaiah University of Applied Science amongst others. The Guest speaker for the event was Prof. Walter Sandow Alhassan, the University’s former Council chair and he gave an inspiring address on the theme, “COVID-19 and Education: Lessons Learned and the Way Forward for Tertiary Education in Ghana”.
During his address, Prof. Alhassan, emphasized the need for graduands to take full advantage of the education that they had been privileged to acquire, and spoke about the need to think outside the box and always find innovative ways of solving problems in both their professional and personal lives.
The Congregation was also addressed by the GTUC President, who gave his traditional update on the University’s status. Prof. Afoakwa threw light on the Passage of the GCTU Bill, informing the attendants that it had been approved by Parliament and was awaiting the national president’s assent. This would formally confirm the University’s status as a public university under the new name Ghana Communication Technology University.
The President encouraged the graduands in his address, urging them to never give up in the face of adversity and seek continuous improvement, saying “I encourage you to continuously aspire to improve yourselves, challenge yourselves, build new knowledge and most of all, do not accept the status quo as it is”
He closed his address by thanking the staff at GTUC for their continuous and fervent efforts in ensuring that the University continues to progress and achieve its goals.
The Overall Best Student for this graduation was Mr. Kelvin Andy Nkansah, a Coventry University Master’s student and in his address to his fellow graduands he payed homage to the efforts of lecturers, staff and management alike for maintaining the high standards that accompany Graduate education at GTUC.
Overall, the event proved to be a successful one and we are delighted to have made history in organizing the first virtual graduation Ghana has witnessed. We congratulate our various Graduates on their outstanding achievements.
