Students’ Loan Scheme to include private schools
The government is considering expanding the students’ loan scheme to all deserving students in the country, public or private, the Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, has announced.
“We are doing a fiscal assessment of it, and as and when that is completed, we'll take a decision on it and expand it to all deserving students.
“After all, it is a loan. It is to be paid back. What is important is to manage it well and increase the threshold, and then the students can carry some burdens if that was done,” said the minister.
Mr Iddrisu announced this when he inaugurated a 13-member Governing Council of the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC), chaired by Professor Mahama Dwiejua, in Accra last Friday.
The members of the council include a representative of Vice Chancellors Ghana, Rev. Prof. John Frank Eshun; a representative of the private universities, Prof. Fred Mcbangonluri; a representative of the Ministry of Education, Mamle D. Andrews; a representative of the Ministry of Finance, Samuel Danquah Arkhurst, and a representative of the Attorney General Department Stella Otema Badu.
Others are the Director-General of the National Development Planning Commission, Dr Isaac Nii Moi Thompson; a representative of the Commission for Technical and Vocational Education and Training, Zakaria Sulemana, and the Director-General of GTEC, Prof. Ahmed Jinapor Abdulai.
The rest are the Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Prof. Ernest Davis; the Director-General of the Technical and Vocational Education Training Service, Dr Eric Kofi Adzroe, with Dr Berlinda Glover-Dake and Prof. Emmanuel Kancheba Derbile as members.
Presidential Charter
On the Presidential Charter of Private Universities, the minister charged the Commission to look at it, “even though it is not the intention of the ministry or government to interfere with the exercise of your regulatory mandate.
“However, questions have been raised as to whether the charter should be compulsory.
Even as I leave that to your determination, I am also minded to warn the private universities that you cannot be on your own forever and into perpetuity,” Mr Iddrisu said.
He proposed that Ghana consider a 10-year transition period, after which no private university would be allowed to operate in the country without a charter.
The minister assured the council of government support, stressing that standards and quality should never be compromised on the altar of an affiliate of another institution.
Mr Iddrisu said so far, the government was satisfied with the exercise of the regulatory mandate “but we have to find a way to contain those private universities.”
Universities in Ghana
He expressed confidence that the commission would work to make Ghana the most attractive destination for higher education delivery in Africa.
“We are not doing well as a country. If you read any assessment of UNESCO on the state of higher education in Ghana, you would be concerned,” the minister said.
He said apart from the red flags on overcrowded classrooms and lecture theatres and classes of the accommodation offered to students, the most important thing was the disconnect between what the universities are producing, employability, the needs of industry and the private sector.
“The President has asked me to remind this Commission that in Ghana, there is a disconnect between what the universities are producing and what is required by industry and commerce, and more importantly, what is required as a future human resource needs of the country,” the minister said.
TVET fund
Mr Iddrisu reiterated the desire of the government to establish a technical vocational education fund akin to what pertained in Germany, “so that if we can start even next year, into 2027, we could build one vocational institute of excellence in every region of Ghana, with dedicated funding from the TVET Fund.
“So, this year, the TVET Fund has made a minimum allocation to indicate donors and others in the private sector to support this well-meaning step,” the minister announced.
Response
Responding, Prof. Dwiejua thanked the President, through the minister, for the trust reposed in the council, saying that they accepted the position to serve on the council, being mindful of the challenges ahead of them.
He thanked the minister for assuring them of granting the commission its autonomy and pledged not to disappoint the government.
Writer’s email: severious.dery@graphic.com.gh
