Brief History

Sequel to the University of Education, Winneba becoming autonomous in 2005, the need to have a Unit to offer courses in Liberal and African Studies became necessary. Hence, in the 2007/2008 academic year, the Centre was established. Initially, it was created as a Unit under the Department of Social Studies Education, and later became a Centre for African Studies with the mandate as a service department to offer African and Liberal Studies courses respectively for first and second-year students of the entire University. In the 2012/2013 academic year, the Centre was integrated into the Faculty of Social Sciences Education (FSSE), which had been established to offer graduate, undergraduate and diploma programmes.  In every semester, a litany of approved courses are mounted to meet diverse the needs and interests of students. The variety of courses mounted are also due to the increasing student enrolment. The Centre for African Studies is also a research Centre. Staff, individually and collectively, conduct research into various African-centred issues of interest.

In addition, the Centre for African Studies hosts a Bachelor of Art Degree programme in Religious and Moral Studies Education. The programme has three majors; African Traditional Religions; Christianity; and Islam. Following the re-alignment of Ghana’s educational curriculum, there is increasing demand for teachers specialising in religion and moral sciences. Currently, African Traditional Religion (ATR), Christian Religious Studies (CRS), and Islamic Studies (IS) are subjects taught in Senior High Schools in Ghana. Furthermore, the Colleges of Education teach courses on religious and moral education. These developments in the education landscape have resulted in high demand for teachers of Religious and Moral Education (RME), Christian Religious Studies (CRS), Islamic Studies (IS) and African Traditional Religion (ATR) in Senior High Schools and Colleges of Education in Ghana.