Over 2,000 students have graduated from the University for Development Studies (UDS) after they successfully completed various master's, degree and diploma courses. One thousand eight hundred and twenty-two students graduated with bachelor's degrees; 19 received master's degrees and the rest were awarded diplomas at the 11th congregation ceremony of the UDS, held at its Tamale campus at the weekend. Twenty-eight (28) of the students who graduated with the bachelor's degrees were awarded First Class, while 618 others had Second Class upper division. The rest were awarded Second Class (lower) degrees, Third Class and passes. Delivering the keynote address, the Chairman of the Council of State, Professor Kofi Awoonor, said the government would remain committed to its pledge to address the infrastructural challenges facing the UDS. He restated the pledge by President John Evans Atta Mills to provide GHC20m to the UDS over a 10-year period under the President's Endowment Fund. "This fund is meant to support the provision of infrastructure and academic facilities on the university's four campuses," he explained. Prof. Awoonor mentioned that beside the support coming from the presidency, the government would continue to utilise the GETFund to provide the requisite infrastructure for the UDS, and added that the GETFund had already funded the construction of some lecture halls and hostels on the Wa and Tamale campuses. "This year, the UDS was offered GHC122,645.69 by the GETFund to support staff development and research," he further mentioned. Prof. Awoonor commended the authorities of the UDS for adopting community-based and problem-solving approaches to teaching and learning, in spite of its meagre resources and facilities. He said the products of the UDS were not only impacting communities in northern Ghana, but also all rural communities throughout the country. The Vice-Chancellor (VC) of the UDS, Prof. Haruna Yakubu, expressed satisfaction with the quality of the university's graduates and added that those who had been awarded First Class degrees had demonstrated "unceasing commitment and excellent performance throughout their studies." He said over the years, the university's student population had grown from 40 to 19,904 and they were pursuing various courses in nine faculties located on its four campuses in Nyankpala, Tamale, Wa and Navrongo. The VC acknowledged the support received from the GETFund, the government and other organisations and institutions, but entreated the government to increase its annual budgetary allocations to the UDS, since the university had some peculiar challenges. He also mentioned that the university was yet to access its share of the President's Endowment Fund as promised and, therefore, appealed to the Finance Ministry to release the two tranches of the money for the period 2009 and 2010, which amounted to GHC4m. Mr Ngmenterebo David, who delivered the valedictory speech, noted that despite the challenges, "the knowledge, skills and experience we have obtained in this institution has fully baked us into the right human resource and manpower-base needed by the nation." Source: Daily Graphic