The University of Cape Coast (UCC) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with its 16 affiliated colleges of education to give them access to the university’s e-library resources.

The agreement is to help improve teaching and learning and enhance the delivery of high-quality degree programmes in the various colleges through improved research and independent learning.

Already, the university has organised training programmes for all key staff of the colleges on the use of the e-library.

Professor Ernest Kofi Davis, Provost of Colleges of Education Studies, at the ceremony, observed that producing quality graduates required a resource-rich environment but the colleges could not do it alone, hence the collaboration.

He added that the new status of the colleges of education as tertiary institutions required the university to provide the necessary support to enable them to execute their mandate.

“In addition to the training we are giving to the tutors to equip them to deliver, the university has found it necessary to give you access to its main library, the Sam Jonah Library, which has a huge collection of educational resources,” he said.

He was hopeful that the agreement would strengthen the relationship between the colleges and UCC so that “we will all produce the quality graduates we want to produce for the Ghana Education Service.”

Prof Johnson Nyarko Boampong, UCC Vice-Chancellor, said the MoU was informed by UCC’s desire for its affiliated institutions to attain the status of a university with high international ratings.

“Gone are the days when you will go to the library and take a book and hide it. But now, sitting in your room, you can access everything from the University of Cape Coast and we hope that you will use the e-library resources to improve our academic performance,” he said.

“So, we want you to use it to improve upon your publications. Once you are associated with the University of Cape Coast, you should be publishing so that it will also enhance our ranking next year,” he stressed.

Professor Christine Adu-Yeboah, the Director, Institute of Education, UCC, was excited that teachers needed to update and upgrade themselves to get promotions, stressing the need for the colleges to learn how to use the e-resources.

“We think that giving them training on the use of e-library without giving them an e-library that has resources for them to enrich their knowledge and skills is less than half of the job done,” she emphasised.

For his part, Mr Nkyi Asamoah Joseph, the Principal of the Offinso College of Education, gave the assurance that the principals of the various colleges would cooperate with UCC and also ensure that their respective libraries were well resourced for the benefit of all stakeholders.

“We are grateful, and we want other public universities some of our colleagues are affiliated with to emulate this shining example by UCC,” he added.