The University of Ghana (UG), together with the management board of the press, has officially unveiled the university’s Printing Press.
The press, which was launched on Tuesday, November 17, 2020 is expected to boost production capacity and handle large amounts of printing work in the coming days.
Speaking at the event, the Acting Provost of the College of Education and member of the UG Press management board, Prof. Michael Tagoe, stated that two in-house presses were established in the 1970’s in the then Institute of Adult Education and the School of Communication Studies to cater for the printing needs of these institutions.
“In 2014, when the university adopted the collegiate system of governance, the need to merge the two presses was mooted because the School of Continuing and Distance Education (SCDE), through a grant from the Chinese Government, had received equipment which could not be installed and housed at the school because of space limitations”.
He added that “following approval by university management, this led to the amalgamation of the two presses which is being officially launched today as the University of Ghana Printing Press”.
Prof Tagoe revealed that the printing press carries out printing works for many units of the university, including designing and printing all University of Ghana calendars and congregation brochures as well as doing printing works for other universities, individuals and entities outside of the university.
While noting the possible challenges and competition the UG Press may face from established industry players, he advocated for the right structures and conducive environment for the press to grow on its successes chalked so far.
On his part, Mr. Kwaku Mensah-Bonsu, Chairman of the UG Press Management Board described the launch as a historic one especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which is a threat to several businesses.
He mentioned that, from November 2016 when the management board was appointed, “we hit the ground running and took on a major part of official printing needs of the university even with the limited resources we inherited. We have the capacity and the capability as over the years we have acquired both plant and equipment to take over the entire printing needs of the university and beyond. Our commitment is embedded in our slogan: quality printing, prompt delivery”.
Prof. Felix Ankomah Asante, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research, Innovation and Development at UG, who read the Vice Chancellor’s speech, noted that the purchase and installation of new equipment would take the press to the next level.
He mentioned that “the press will support the university’s efforts at diversifying funding sources and increasing the university’s internally generated funds” at a time that COVID-19 has dried up regular streams of income for the university.
The ceremony ended with a tour of the refurbished printing press facility and a brief demonstration of how the newly installed equipment functions.
