The Institute for Educational Planning and Administration (IEPA)here at the University of Cape Coast will officially be launched as a UNESCO category II Center of Excellence today.
The elevation of IEPA to a UNESCO Category II status is part of the commitment of the West African governments to meet the international agenda for education especially in meeting the SDG 4 which seeks to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.
The Director General of the Institute, Dr. Michael Boakye-Yiadom, in an interview with ATL FM ahead of the launch, said the official launch will complete the process and set the tone for IEPA to tell its story, talk about the future and deliver on its new mandate.
“We are going to outdoor IEPA as a UNESCO category II center of excellence. We have the minister of education coming as the quest of honour, we have invited many of our stakeholders and international partners, our governing board members and the entire university to come and witness what we are doing, for us to tell our story, tell our history, talk about our present situation and also talk about our future” he added.
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Dr Ampah Mensah, the Deputy Director General, Academic Programme and Professional Development of the IEPA stated that the new status means and requires from IEPA.
According him, to be a UNESCO category II center of excellence has to do with a special kind of relationship that is entered into by UNESCO member states and UNESCO, to have institutes within their countries to serve the sub-regions and then also to serve the international communities to support UNESCO in achieving their mandate.
“To become center of excellence indicates that you are supporting UNESCO’s priority areas and then also you are supporting UNESCO’s mandate and agenda. UNESCO has to do with education scientific research and also cultural expositions. So for ours, we are focused on education” Dr. Mensah reiterated.
The Head of Communications and Public Relations for the IEPA Nana Efua Rockson on her part said even though the new status comes with a huge responsibility, IEPA is ready to live up to expectations.
Source: Vera Siripi/ATLFMNEWS
