Asene-Aboabo College of Education marks 10th anniversary - Appeals for infrastructural support

The Akyem Asene-Aboabo Methodist College of Education (METCOE) has celebrated its 10th anniversary at Oda with a call on the students to lead exemplary lifestyles.

The Akyem Oda Methodist Diocesan Bishop, Rt Rev. Isaac Kwame Boateng, who made the call, also asked the students to eschew all negative traits that had the potential of bringing their integrity into dispute.

He said the advice had become imperative as the children they would teach would copy blindly whatever lifestyles their teachers would adopt.

Rt Rev. Boateng, who is also the Chairman of the college's governing council, said with the introduction of the new system of education by the Minister of Education such as STEM, there was the need for the colleges of education to benefit from the kind of teaching that would make them fit into the system without being found wanting.

He emphasised that since the success of METCOE like all other educational institutions depended on the commitment of the key stakeholders, namely the government, parents, staff, students, community leaders and alumni, there was the need for all of them to play pivotal roles to make the institution one of the best in the country.

Challenges

The bishop enumerated the lack of a bus to convey students to their teaching practice schools, an administration block, more lecture halls, a befitting computer laboratory and library, among the major challenges facing the college and appealed to the government to help solve them.

He also commended the Asene and Aboabo communities for releasing 65 acres of land for the college's permanent site.

He expressed appreciation to the Chief Executive Officer of Memphis Metropolitan Limited, Patrick Kwame Danso, for constructing a road and two huge bridges to provide access to the institution's permanent site at Asene-Aboabo.

The Senior Presidential Advisor, Yaw Osafo-Maafo, through whose efforts METCOE was established as a private educational institution, elaborated how he struggled before the institution was absorbed into the public system as successive governments did not want to add new colleges to the existing 38.

He was full of praise for the Oda St Luke Methodist Cathedral for singlehandedly financing the then private educational institution until it was absorbed into the public system in 2018.

In an address read on behalf of the Minister of Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, the Deputy Director of the National Teaching Council, Lawrence Sarpong, praised the founding members and staff of the college for their untiring efforts to make the institution one of the best in the country.

Growth

In his report, the Principal of the college, Very Rev. Solomon Gyamerah, said the college which started as a private educational institution in 2012 when Rt Rev. Col (Retd) Paul Adjei Brewu was the Oda Methodist Diocesan Bishop with 174 students and 23 staff, currently had a 1,163 student population and 105 staff.

He noted that during a recent Fidelity Implementation Assessment of the four-year B'Ed Curriculum conducted in all the 46 colleges of education, METCOE placed fifth to be adjudged among the seven best of such educational institutions in the country.

He reassured the people of Asene and Aboabo that the next batch of buildings to be put up by the college would be sited on the permanent site, now that the road to the land had been made accessible.

Outstanding staff of the college and some personalities who had contributed immensely to the success of the institution were honoured with mementos, while two overall best graduating students for the 2021/22 academic year were also presented with laptops and citations.

The recipients were Rebecca Serwaa for the Primary School category and Richard Kwarteng for the Junior High School category.

Principals of sister colleges of education donated GH¢11,000 to the institution, with Mr Osafo-Maafo and other dignitaries also making substantial donations.