Head of Department Engages Learning Centres to Sharpen Quality
Between 28 September and 11 October 2025, the Department of Distance Education demonstrated its commitment to responsive leadership and academic excellence. Professor Samuel Amponsah, Head of the Distance Education Department (HOD), concluded a crucial two-week series of engagements with students and staff across three key learning centres: Takoradi, Kumasi, and Cape Coast. The visits, conducted as part of the end-of-semester examination monitoring, served a dual purpose, to update the student body on exciting departmental developments and to directly address emerging operational and academic concerns.
Professor Amponsah delivered exciting news regarding the department's academic expansion, announcing the successful launch of the MA and MPhil EDUTEC programmes. These postgraduate offerings have already attracted significant interest, with 38 and 23 applicants, respectively, marking a confident step forward in educational technology.
Crucially, the HOD addressed persistent student concerns regarding continuous assessments and end-of-semester examinations by reiterating the department’s academic delivery, tutorials, and attendance policy. He emphasised a key rule, Student absence from 25% or more of the scheduled online and face-to-face tutorials results in automatic exemption from the examination for that course. He also clarified that the lecturer retains discretion over the mode of instruction and assessment formats and confirmed the transition from Interim Assessment (IA) to Continuous Assessment (CA). Prof. Amponsah stated the grading policy, a student who completes CA but misses the final examination (or vice versa) will receive a grade of “X,” whereas those who miss examinations for genuinely justifiable reasons will be awarded a grade “I.”
A significant portion of the engagement focused on the critical issue of professional conduct. Both students and staff raised concerns about mutual respect and professionalism within the learning environment. Professor Amponsah addressed troubling reports of disrespectful behaviour, including abusive language directed at lecturers during online classes, which had regrettably prompted some tutors to withdraw from teaching certain courses. Staff also highlighted incidents of examination malpractice and disrespect toward administrative personnel. The HOD urged all stakeholders to uphold the highest standards of professional conduct. This means students must respect academics and staff, and in turn, staff should foster harmonious, customer-focused interactions with students, recognising their vital role as valued partners in the learning ecosystem.
Students voiced several pressing operational and environmental concerns at the learning centres, including:
- Poor lecture hall conditions, often worsened during the rainy seasons.
- Inadequate resources impacting the learning experience.
- Clashes between face-to-face and online tutorial schedules, which reduce crucial student attendance.
- Reported instances where some Diploma cohorts felt a lack of adequate instruction.
In a decisive move, administrative staff and Organisers were immediately tasked with revising timetables, documenting facility conditions (with photographic evidence), and ensuring follow-up on all outstanding student issues, including delays in souvenir distribution and unresolved credit-hour queries affecting graduation.
The meetings reflected an active, responsive leadership approach to ensuring quality distance education delivery. The directives issued by Professor Amponsah, combined with clearer communication and strengthened attendance rules, provide a practical roadmap for significantly improving the student experience and securing academic quality across all centres. The department is not only expanding academically but is directly confronting and resolving the operational and behavioural challenges necessary for success.
