Consider private universities under GETFund : Ansa-Asare appeals to government
The Founder and Rector of Mountcrest University College (MUC), Mr Kwaku Ansa-Asare, has appealed to the government to consider making it possible for private universities to access the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund).
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He has also called on the Ministry of Education (MOE) and the National Accreditation Board (NAB) to review the accreditation and affiliation processes to create a level playing field for both private and public universities.
”Private universities absorb a large pool of students who cannot enter public universities because of limited facilities and quotas. The private universities move in to absorb these students. The inability of the private universities to access the GETFund is, therefore, a disservice to improving their infrastructure,” he said.
Graduation and matriculation of MUC
Mr Ansa-Asare made the observations when he addressed the sixth matriculation ceremony of MUC in Accra last Saturday to officially welcome 293 fresh students to the university college.
The matriculated students would pursue undergraduate programmes in Law and Public Health.
At the same event, 198 students, who pursued a four-year bachelor degree in Law (LLB) at the university between 2011 and 2016 were presented with their certificates.
GETFund Act
The GETFund Act 2000, Act 581,Section 2A states: “For the purpose of attaining this object, the monies from the fund are to be expended to provide financial support to the agencies and institutions under the Ministry of Education, through the ministry, for the development and maintenance of essential academic facilities and infrastructure in public educational institutions, particularly in tertiary institutions.”
Autonomy to private universities
He observed that the time had come for the NAB to grant autonomy to private universities which had proved beyond doubts that they were capable of running specific programmes.
“The present affiliation regime that puts many private universities under a few public universities is a recipe for stagnant processes. It retards the introduction of innovative degree programmes relevant to the nation’s development needs,” he said.
Government assurance
In a speech read on her behalf at the event, the Minister of Education, Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, gave an assurance that the government would continue to support private universities to deliver quality education for the development of the country.
She also said the MoE would collaborate with the government and the NAB to ensure that all private universities who met the requirement for the giving of presidential charter were granted the charter without undue bureaucratic processes.
She urged the graduands to bring the skill they had acquired to bear on all fields they found themselves and develop the right attitude that would make them relevant to the cause of national development.
