From Sebastian R. Freiku
The Seventh-day Adventist Nursing and Midwifery Training School at Kwadaso in Kumasi has enrolled 402 students out of 1,591 applicants who applied for admission this year.
The new entrants, to be trained as nurses and midwives, include 235 females and 98 males, the Principal of the School, Mr. Daniel Atta-Tuffuor, announced at the joint 11th Matriculation of 333 student nurses and Second Matriculation of 169 midwife trainees last week Wednesday.
The theme was: “Enhancing Human Resource Development in Nursing and Midwifery: the contribution of Adventist Education over the Decade.” Principal Atta-Tuffuor gave the assurance that the students would be trained professionally, spiritually, socially and morally to be disciplined and responsible persons in their communities, and warned that the school would not compromise on discipline and standards.
He said students would have to attach importance to attending lectures and studies and clinical attachments for practical training at the hospitals, in order to acquire a profession, and announced that a Disciplinary Committee had been set up to ensure that standards and discipline are maintained at all times.
Mr. Atta-Tuffuor, however, cautioned members of the public not to rely on intermediaries to see the Principals to seek admission into the school. He stressed that he, as head of the institution, does not take anything, in cash or kind, to admit students, describing as a shameful the practice whereby people pay money to get admitted.
According to him, admission is based on a student’s performance, and that applicants could come directly to seek admission. Principal Atta-Tuffuor announced that the school is currently developing a new site, christened Baryland, at Barekese, where the construction of a six classroom block, two ground floors of a two and three storey hostel, kitchen and roads under a first phase, are being constructed at GH¢30 million, to ensure effective and efficient teaching and learning.
He said the school, which is government-assisted, would need GH¢10 million to complete the new site over the next five years. The Principal expressed appreciation to the government for the donation of a Nissan Navara pick-up to the school, and appealed to it to consider modalities to make health training institutions benefit from the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) for infrastructural development.
According to the Principal, the school is currently faced with inadequate space for a library and staff accommodation, and teaching and learning materials. Mr. Atta-Tuffuor, therefore, called on the government, the church, parents, philanthropists and the general public to come to the aid of the school to develop its new site.