The Vice-President, Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, has said the sustainability of universities in the country will depend on diversified funding models.
The funding models, she said, included those that promoted institutional resilience while preserving academic freedom.
Prof. Opoku-Agyemang said this in an address read on her behalf by the Deputy Minister of Education, Dr Clement Apaak, at the maiden Ghana Higher Education Summit at the University of Ghana, Legon, in Accra yesterday.
The event, attended by researchers, policymakers, industry partners, academia, development partners and the private sector, was on the theme: Universities at Crossroads: Charting Sustainable Funding Pathways for Inclusive Higher Education".
Space
Prof. Opoku-Agyemang said the theme for the event captured the reality confronting higher education, not only in the country but across the African continent and the world.
She said today, universities faced growing enrolments, rising expectations for research and innovation, rapid technological change, and increasing operational costs, all within a context of constrained public resources.
"This demands that we rethink traditional funding models and embrace bold, innovative and collaborative approaches to financing higher education," she said.
The government of President John Dramani Mahama, the Vice-President said, recognised education as one of the most strategic investments a nation could make.
Vision, initiatives
Prof. Opoku-Agyemang said the government remained committed to access to quality education while strengthening "our tertiary institutions to become globally competitive centres of excellence in learning, research, and innovation".
"Our vision is one that equips universities to respond to today's challenges, while positioning them for future readiness. This requires sustained investments in teaching and learning infrastructure, research and innovation, digital transformation, faculty development, and student support systems," she said.
Questions
The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Prof. Nana Aba Amfo, said the event was not only to discuss the future of tertiary education, but also to examine one of the most pressing questions confronting universities everywhere.
That, she said, was how to sustainably finance tertiary education while ensuring that it remained inclusive, accessible, excellent and relevant.
The Administrator of the Ghana National Research Fund, Prof. Abigail Opoku-Mensah, said sustainable financing for higher education and sustainable financing for research were closely connected.
