Professor William Otoo Ellis, Vice Chancellor of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) has declared that the university is all set to support the society through the provision of various services. He made this statement during the official launching of the Outreach Unit at the KNUST Basic School.
This was at a programme organized by the Department of Optometry and Visual Science (DOVS), KNUST. There was a special eye screening exercise for both teachers and students of the Basic School as part of the programme.
Professor Ellis explained that as part of the university’s vision to enhance development in the surrounding communities, KNUST had set up a Community Impact Committee to facilitate this vision. The committee, headed by Professor Mrs. Ibok Oduro, Head of the Department of Food Science and Technology, had embarked on several community impact projects since its inception. One of these projects was the eye screening service for the pupils of KNUST Basic School.
The Vice Chancellor added that the initiative by the DOVS to organize this exercise was a very important one for the university. He encouraged the department to keep up the good work and back it with serious research work to make their service relevant to the society. He urged other units and departments in the school to follow suit and make their impact felt in the community. He went on to officially launch the outreach unit.
Dr. Angela Ofeibea Amedo, Head of the DOVS, explained that the aim of helping the society through the provision of community health service had been in existence for many years. The department used to organize Friday clinics for people in and around the university. This was a way of solving some of the health problems of the community.
She explained that about 80% (eighty percent) of what humans learnt in their lifetime was possible through the use of the eye. According to her, many students we consider daft are not really daft but cannot cope with academic work as a result of poor eyesight. The department hopes to help solve this problem by giving training to the staff of the Basic School to help identify students with eye problems. Plans were also underway to partner with the Ashanti Vision Centre and the KNUST Hospital to provide quality spectacles and accept referrals to students who had special eye problems. She concluded that as a specialist, she believed that no student should be disadvantaged academically as a result of poor eyesight.
In his closing remarks, Professor Obiri Danso, Provost of the College of Science who was the Chairman of the launching showed his appreciation to the team from the Department of Optometry and Visual Science. He hoped that the team would screen all the students from the Basic School since they were the future leaders of the country.
Present at the ceremony were Dr. Yaw Bio, Director of the University Health Service; Professor Francis Boakye; Professor Ibok Oduro, head of the Department of Food Science and Mr. Vincent Ankamah-Lomotey, Deputy Registrar, University Relations Office.
