‘Consider extending GETFund to private universities’
The Founder of Data Link Institute, a private university in Tema, Mr Ernest Ansah, has called on the government to consider extending the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) facility to private tertiary institutions to enable them to enhance and expand their infrastructure.
He said expanding their infrastructure would enable them to create more vacancies in the universities to absorb more senior high school graduates under the government’s free Senior High School (SHS) programme.
The GETFund is a public trust set up by an Act of Parliament in the year 2000 to provide funding to supplement government’s effort to provide educational infrastructure and facilities of educational institutions in the public sector, from pre-tertiary to the tertiary level.
In an interview with the Daily Graphic at the ninth congregation of Data Link Institute on Friday, Mr Ansah, who is also the Executive Chairman of the Council of the institute, acknowledged that “the GETFund was actually made for the public universities and I don’t blame government so much because at the time the law for the fund was passed, there were only few private universities.
“Now that we have so many private universities, the government should allow us to access the fund so that we can enhance and expand on our infrastructure. We do not mind if it is even given to us as a loan. We are completely cut off and I don’t think that is fair because private universities also pay taxes and are entitled to the fund.”
Make a difference
A total of 356 students who pursued different academic disciplines graduated from the university, with Ms Deborah Sagoe Gunnel emerging as the Overall Best Student.
She also picked up the prize for the Overall Female Best Student and Best Student in Marketing, while Mr Nathaniel Ashie emerged as the Best Male Student.
The prize for Best Accounting Student went to Miss Martha Yanney while that of Banking and Finance went to Miss Susana Mensah.
Mr Ansah admonished the graduates to go out and make a difference in their chosen fields, noting that the present world had many challenges, including unemployment and poverty, “but you can change it.”
In his report, the President of the Institute, Prof. Jacob Jonas Nortey, urged the graduates to make effective use of the knowledge they had acquired from the institute bring about the needed change in attitudes by exhibiting honesty and integrity.
Prof. Nortey also charged them to continue to upgrade their knowledge and skills as knowledge acquisition had no end.
Education is key
In a keynote address, a Stool Elder at the Tema Traditional Council and Former Board Chairman of Tema Development Cooperation, Mr Emmanuel O. Adjetey, advised the graduates to use the knowledge and skills gained to contribute to national development.
Entrepreneurs
In an address, Ms Gunnel said: “Staying at home after national service in the name of no jobs should not be an option. Going to America or Europe or Asia or the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to seek greener pastures is great, but we also have the opportunity as graduates to work and make our country what we want it to be.”
Data Link Institute, an affiliate of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), is a tertiary institution that offers programmes leading to the award of degrees and certificates in various disciplines at the university.
Writer’s email: [email protected]
