CENTRE FOR THE PROMOTION OF LIFE VALUES (CPLV)
If we work upon marble, it will perish; if on brass, time will efface it; if we rear temples, they will crumble into dust; but if we work upon immortal minds, and imbue them with principles, with the just fear of God and love of our fellow-men, we engrave on those tablets something that will brighten to all eternity.
According to the Church history, in 1843, the Presbyterian Church established the first indigenous primary school in the country, to people to read, write and disseminate the goodnews in their own language. This began a series of bold, visionary and pioneering initiatives in the development of education in the country. Five years later it established the Presbyterian Training College (PTC) at Akropong, the second higher educational institution in West Africa after Fourah Bay College in Sierra Leone. Since those early beginnings, the Presbyterian Church of Ghana has established and managed, in partnership with the Government of Ghana, hundreds of primary schools, many secondary schools, and training colleges.
One thing worthy of notice is that the schools opened by the Church were maintained with Church funds. The teachers were also paid by the Church. It was in 1918 that the government started paying teachers, but the maintenance of the schools was still the responsibility of the Church. By 1918 the Presbyterian Church had schools littered throughout southern Ghana.
These schools were renowned for the quality of education imparted to the pupils and students. The main principle of the educators was to train the Head, the Hand, and the Heart. They carried out their assignment with missionary zeal. The teachers were not merely concerned about training pupils to read, write and work arithmetic, but to be able to use their hands as experts in crafts and agriculture. Pupils were taught basketry, weaving, brick making, carpentry and a host of others. School farms were attached to every school compound and the pupils were to produce food-stuffs. The school compound was cleaned by the students themselves.
The Presbyterian Discipline refers to exemplary character and academic excellence through self-discipline. The product born out of this Discipline stood out from the crowd by their Punctuality, Devotion and Commitment to Duty, Neatness, Decent Moral Behaviour, Humility, and Respect for their seniors. They were nurtured to attain heights which any scholar of repute could aspire to. In addition they were trained to carry out their duty with efficiency and delightful enthusiasm, coupled with a capacity for sustained hard work, and Christian modesty which enabled them to present their convictions without being arrogant or disrespectful. They were nurtured to be people who made statements spiced with honesty, truth and supreme objectivity. This is what the Centre for the Promotion of Life Values (CPLV) stands for and is working to build in the staff and students.
The Presbyterian institutions were able to carve a niche for themselves within a short span of time. The simple reason was that they had a guiding principle. The educators flamed with a conviction that they had been given a precious thing, life, which should be used to glorify God in every sphere of human activity. Remembering the Apostle Paul’s injunction that Christians are to be letters written by Christ meant for all to read, character training and the attainment of excellence in every activity became the hallmark of Presbyterian schools.
A Humble Beginning
To complete the task of the church in making educational facilities available to Ghana, the Presbyterian Church of Ghana took a bold decision to establish a University. This unanimous decision was taken at Synod, Kyebi, in 1996. In making this proposal, the aim of the church was not merely to add to the existing Universities. PUCG was to be different in approach and quality. The objective was to produce people with a badge of distinction made up of exemplary character, adherence to the truth at all costs, and attainment of excellence in anything they do. The Church had in mind people who carry out their duties with efficiency and delightful enthusiasm, coupled with a capacity for sustained hard work, and Christian modesty which will enable them to present their conviction without being arrogant or disrespectful. They are to be nurtured to be people who make statements spiced with honesty, truth and supreme objectivity.
The aim was therefore to produce academics as well as social beings who are capable of improving the quality of life of the people in their society with the spirit and mind of Christ. To cap it all, the Church had in mind people whose mission is, to borrow the words of John Milito, “to live as ever under the Task Master’s eye” and “to justify the ways of God to men”. To put it simply, the church wanted to revive the spirit and tone of the “Salems” of old.
The University College opened its doors to the first students of 55 on 24th November, 2003, for the two initial programmes of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), and Business Administration, at the Okwahu Campus at Abetifi. This was the culmination of a year of hard work to get facilities ready and to obtain accreditation. The official opening and induction of the first Principal of the University College were performed by the then Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, the Rt. Rev., now the Very Rev. Dr. Samuel Prempeh, assisted by the then Clerk of the General Assembly, the Rev. Dr. Charles Gyan Duah. The President of the Republic of Ghana, H. E. John Agyekum Kuffour, graced the occasion with his presence. On that day, the President of the Republic commissioned the Ghana Telecom Telephone system which had been constructed at the instance of the President himself for the benefit of University and the Community at large.
Currently, the University is operating from five different campuses across the country. These are, Okwahu Campus located at Kwahu-Abetifi and Akuapem Campus at Akropong, in the Eastern Region. The Tema City Campus located at Community 2 &11 in the Greater Accra Region. The Asante-Akyem Campus at Asante-Akyem Agogo and the Kumasi Campus located at Santasi all in the Ashanti Region.