Daniel Attah-Tuffour, Principal – SDA Nurses’ College
The Kwadaso Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) Nursing and Midwifery Training College in Kumasi has admitted 824 students, representing 36.26% of2,272 applicants to study general nursing and midwifery for the2020/2021 academic year.
They comprise 154 male and 334 female students for the general nursing programme while 335 students are pursuing a course of study in midwifery.
The Principal, Daniel Attah-Tuffour, who announced these at the 17thand 8th Matriculation of Nurse and Midwife trainees respectively, last Friday, said about 3,505 applicants (25% increase of the previous applicants) are being processed for interview for the next academic year.
The theme for this year’s matriculation ceremony was: “Building Excellence in Nursing and Midwifery Education: The role of Stakeholders”.
The Kwadaso Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) Nursing and Midwifery Training College, with a total student population of 2,152 runs two campuses- Kwadaso campus (1,029 students) and Barekese campus (Baryland) which contains 1,129 students in hostels built by the school with a loan facility.
Based on the ever increasing intake of students, the Principal called on government and stakeholders to consider the expansion of facilities at the College to enable it admit more students.
He noted that with the inception of the free Senior High School policy, there should be more facilities and enough resources, including infrastructure, at the nursing and midwifery training colleges to absorb and train more students to become skillful for the job market.
Students being capped during the matriculation ceremony
In the face of population increase, Principal Attah-Tuffour also called on government and stakeholders to strategise and adopt short, medium and long term measures to train nurses and midwives for export, as a means of providing avenues of creating jobs for them.
He cautioned the fresh students that the authorities would not countenance irresponsible behaviours such as wearing uniforms and misconduct themselves in public, including stealing, occultism and use of hard drugs.
The principal reminded them of their priority as students to focus on their studies and improve upon their academic performance by taking both theoretical and aspects of the education serious. The students were also advised to observe rules and regulations of the College and the code of ethics of the profession.
Mr. Attah-Tuffour stressed that infrastructure plays significant role in the training of nurses and health professionals towards achieving Universal Health Coverage and called on government and all stakeholders, philanthropists, institutions, organisations and individuals to support infrastructural development for better healthcare.
He also called on the Ministry of Health (MOH) to assist the College with teaching and learning materials, in cash and kind, including books and computers, as well as sponsorship for further training of staff.
The Principal also appealed to the government to ensure that Health Training institutions benefit from the GET Fund to provide infrastructure.
The Principal commended the College’s Stakeholders Association (PTA), mentioning that the association has contributed positively to the growth and development of the College over the past eight years.
The Stakeholders’ Association, Mr. Atta-Tuffuor disclosed, has purchased a Toyota Hillux, a 33-seater Toyota Coaster and provided80-capacity hostel for the school, as well as completing a seven flat residential accommodation for staff.
He also announced that this year, the association constructed a10-seater washroom at the Barekese campus and purchased 200 sets of classroom furniture and expansion of classroom at the cost of GHc300, 000.
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