The Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG) has commissioned and dedicated a new College of Health at Begoro in the Fanteakwa North District.
The new college, which is known as the Presbyterian College of Health, will be an institution for training laboratory technicians and other allied health professionals. It is the first of its kind in the region, and is expected to fully take off by the close of this year, 2023.
The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Rt. Rev. Prof. Joseph Obiri Yeboah Mante, commissioning the College, commended the Akyem Abuakwa Presbytery and its Chairperson, Rev. Dr. Seth Kissi, traditional authorities, individuals, the Begoro District of the PCG, and the local congregation for working hard to establish the College.
Rt. Rev. Prof. Joseph Mante extolled the implementation committee set up in March 2020 to oversee the establishment of the College.
He explained that the Church’s decision to turn the campus of the then Begoro Presbyterian Vocational School into a tertiary training institution was to ensure that the facilities were put to good use.
The Moderator added that the same was done at Dormaa and Duayaw Nkwanta, where collapsed vocational schools of the church had been turned into nursing training institutions.
Rt. Rev. Prof. Joseph Obiri Yeboah Mante indicated that the implementation of the Free Senior High School (SHS) required expansion and more tertiary institutions, and that the establishment of the Health College had come at the right time to offer tertiary education to the majority of the beneficiaries.
It will be recalled that the Moderator, in March 2020, inaugurated an Interim Organising Committee to oversee the process and preparations for the establishment of the College.
The terms of reference for the Committee, under the convenorship of Reverend Dr. Seth Kissi, Akyem Abuakwa, Presbytery Chairperson, were to assess the building structure of the former Begoro Presbyterian Vocational School (PREVOC), which was being turned into the College of Health, in order to work out the cost of renovation and initiate the process for accreditation for the final take-off of the school.
Other members of the Committee were a representative of the Begoro Local Congregation of the PCG, Baffuor Sakyi Amankwa, representing the Begoro Traditional Council; Mr. Charles Oware-Tweneboah, District Chief Executive of Fanteakwa North, and representatives from the Begoro Development Association, the District Health Directorate, and the Akyem Abuakwa Traditional Council.
The Moderator presented a cheque of GH¢50,000 as seed money for the smooth takeoff of the College.
Present at the ceremony were Dr. Peter Yeboah, the Executive Director of the Christian Health Association of Ghana; Mr. Donkor, the Chief Director of the Eastern Regional Coordinating Council, who represented the Regional Minister; the Eastern Regional Manager of Presbyterian Schools, Mrs. Vida Kyeremateng; and both Members of Parliament for Fanteakwa North and South, Hon. Amankwaah Asiama and Hon. Kofi Okyere Agyekum, known as Arafat, respectively.
The rest were the District Chief Executive (DCE) for Fanteakwa North, Hon. Charles Oware-Tweneboah, Nanaom, and the Director of the Department of Development and Social Services of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Mrs. Rebecca Teiko Sabah, and the Health Coordinator of the Presbyterian Health Services, Mr. Sam Appiah, and the clergy.
