Professor Samuel Kwaku Bonsu, the Rector of Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration, has urged the newly admitted students at the Institute to report any acts of sexual harassment to management for action.
“If you are put in a situation and you don’t feel comfortable, because of a fear of victimisation, please come to my office and report the issue. I will shield you and protect you because we must root this out of our system.
“We are part of the community within the West African society where some things are taken for granted and somehow many people think it is okay to be sexually harassed,” he said.
The Rector gave the advice during a matriculation ceremony to welcome fresh students into the institute to pursue graduate and undergraduate programmes in their various fields of disciplines in law, business, technology, liberal arts, and social sciences.
Mrs Victoria Kumbour, the Secretary of the Institute, administered the oath of matriculation to the students to fully welcome them to the school.
Prof Bonsu emphasised the importance of academic and knowledge development and the application of the acquired knowledge and encouraged the student to take advantage of the relationships among their colleagues to build their future career.
“What is more important in terms of the application of the knowledge you have acquired is the relationship that you develop among your peers.”
“You will meet a lot of friends, some will become lifelong friends, and you need to make good use of the opportunity,” he said.
He encouraged the students to ask questions and contribute effectively to academic discourses and stated that sometimes faculty members learn from their ideas, helping to enhance effective teaching and learning.
The Rector urged them to be responsible and punctual in their fields of discipline, as well as respect each other’s perspectives and use dialogue to address issues of disagreement rather than violence.
He promised the students to put things in place to ensure a conducive academic learning environment to support their goals and dreams of developing their skills and potential for their career growth.
Prof Bonsu called for collaboration between faculty and students to work towards academic excellence and advance their career development.
The students expected the management of the institute to make the teaching and learning environment conducive and pledged to strive for academic excellence.
They also pledged to adhere to the rules of the institute, learn from each other, and forge formidable partnerships to achieve their educational goals and objectives.
