The Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) has inaugurated a 12-room guest lodge to provide accommodation for visiting stakeholders and generate additional revenue to support its operations.
The facility, located on the commission's premises, is expected to accommodate accreditation panels, external assessors, heads of tertiary institutions, development partners and visiting delegations who travel to the commission for official engagements.
At the inauguration of the facility, the Director-General of GTEC, Professor Ahmed Jinapor Abdulai, said the facility would reduce the commission's dependence on external accommodation providers, save costs and provide a convenient environment for visitors to undertake their assignments.
Prof. Jinapor said the guest lodge was more than an accommodation facility, but an investment in the commission's operational efficiency, financial sustainability and service delivery.
He said GTEC's work brought several stakeholders to its premises regularly, adding that the commission had previously depended largely on external facilities to accommodate them.
He said the facility would save time, reduce costs and enable visitors to concentrate on the assignments that brought them to the commission.
Prof. Jinapor said the facility would also provide an opportunity for GTEC to supplement government funding through internally generated revenue.
"Public institutions today are expected to do more with what they have and to find responsible ways of supplementing government funding," he said.
He added that revenue generated from the facility would be reinvested in the commission's operations.
The Director-General said the lodge would also improve the working environment for staff, support institutional programmes and workshops, and strengthen the professional image of the commission.
He said GTEC, as the body responsible for setting and enforcing standards in tertiary education, had a responsibility to demonstrate the quality and accountability it expected from institutions under its regulatory mandate.
He gave an assurance that the inauguration would ensure the facility was managed to high standards of hospitality, maintenance and accountability.
Maintenance
For her part, the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, Abla Dzifa Gomashie, who inaugurated the facility, urged GTEC to maintain high standards of hospitality and service delivery to make the lodge a model for institutional accommodation in the country.
She said the facility aligned with the country's broader objective of strengthening its hospitality infrastructure and making the country a competitive and welcoming destination for domestic and international visitors.
Ms Gomashie said quality accommodation, professional hospitality and efficient service delivery were essential to the country's tourism development agenda.
"To achieve this requires not only world-class attractions, but also quality accommodation, professional hospitality, efficient service delivery and facilities that meet contemporary standards and expectations," she said.
