Graduating students who turn up late for their congregation must have their degree ceremonies deferred for at least one year,  Mr Justice Victor Jones M. Dotse, University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS) Council Chairman, has said.   

He insisted that under no circumstance should a person who has spent years in academia, pursuing a career degree should be late to an even as sacred as his or her congregation.   

Mr Justice Dotse, who is a Supreme Court Judge, made the remarks at the 6^th Congregation of UHAS at the main campus at Sokode-Lokoe, near Ho, on November 12, this year.  

While the ceremony was ongoing, some graduating students were still trickling in.   

The UHAS Council Chairman said that what was even more bizarre was how some students were still outside taking photographs while the ceremony was in progress.   

He said that the conduct of those graduating students amounted to gross indiscipline and disrespect with impunity.   

Mr Justice Dotse observed that discipline was declining rapidly among young people in the communities, “but UHAS will not tolerate any form of indiscipline from students.”   

On other matters, he said that UHAS’ mission was to provide quality education, advance knowledge through scholarship and research to improve health and quality of life.   

The university also seeks to be a pre-eminent health research educational institution dedicated to community service, and is doing quite well in that regard, Mr Justice Dotse added.   

He said that UHAS had been making conscious efforts with regard to the research agenda and it was necessary that the government supported that activity with the necessary financial assistance to the university’s policies.   

In that vein, the council chairman said the national research agenda must focus on clear implementation strategies that inured to the benefits of society.   

“Public universities like UHAS must be supported timely with adequate research funds through national budgetary allocations.   

“It is trite knowledge that most great nations develop through scientific research, thereby making them responsive and resilient in the face of social problems, and Ghana must learn from this global example,” he stressed. 

From Alberto Mario Noretti, Sokode-Lokoe