Inadequate Infrastructure Affecting Teaching, Learning At UHAS

By Alberto Mario Noretti And Sokode-Lokoe

THE lack of adequate infrastructure at the main campus of the University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS) at Sokode-Lokoe, near Ho, in the wake of soaring demand for enrolment is impacting negatively on teaching and learning at the institution.

Currently, only the School of Basic and Biomedical Sciences (SBBS) out of the eight schools, is in place.

So far, none of the three institutes of the university has been built.

The Vice Chancellor, Professor John Owusu Gyapong disclosed these at the fourth congregation of the university here on Saturday.

He said that all the GETFUND projects of UHAS had slowed down due to the non-payment of the work carried out by the contractors.

"They include the multi-purpose laboratory complex, School of Public Health building in Hohoe, the incubation facility of the School of Pharmacy and the staff bungalows," he stated.

That notwithstanding, Prof Gyapong said that UHAS had managed to use its meagre Internally Generated Funds (IGF), to initiate the construction of six consulting rooms for clinical teaching, three large lecture rooms and 12 offices for lecturers of the School of Medicine, in addition to two hostel blocks to house 320 students and a university basic school.

"The university eagerly awaits the start of the China Aided Phase II project which will cover the School of Midwifery and the University Central Administration expected to take off by the end of this year," he stated.

The Vice Chancellor said that UHAS currently had a workforce of 642, made up of 199 junior staff, 153 senior staff and 290 senior members.

He announced that the government had further granted the university the financial clearance to recruit 234 new staff with effect from August.

The guest speaker, Prof Angela L. Ofori-Atta, Head of Department of Psychiatry at the University of Ghana, School of Medicine and Dentistry urged the graduands to resolve to work in poor communities as well and attend to all and sundry with love and respect, to put smiles on their faces.

The Volta Regional Minister, Dr Archibald Yao Letsa, who was the guest of honour, noted that the establishment of UHAS had not only made accessibility to healthcare education easier among the youth in the region in particular, but the country as a whole.

UHAS, he said, had also projected the image of the region.

Dr Letsa gave the assurance that the government would leave no stone unturned in ensuring that the challenges facing the university were addressed, "in order to make UHAS' pursuit of academic excellence in healthcare education and training a reality in a short time".

In all 803 students graduated with Bachelors in the fields of Dietetics, Medical Laboratory Sciences, Physiotherapy, Speech Language and Hearing Sciences, and Physician Assistantship (Clinical).

The rest were awarded Bachelors in Midwifery, Nursing, Public Health Nursing, Public Health (Disease Control), Public Health (Environmental Health), Public Health (Health Information), Public Health (Health Promotion) and Public Health (Nutrition).

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