Don't rush to wean public universities off subvention-Government told

Central University (CU) has matriculated over 1,300 students with a call on the government to exercise caution with the intended weaning of public higher education institutions off government subvention.

The Vice-Chancellor of the CU, in observing the merits of the ‘weaning off’ policy, says, “We only ask that it is done with due consultation, in a phased manner with due consideration of the implications on the entire ecosystem.”

Professor Bill Buenar Puplampu made this call at the Trinity Hall of the Central University, Miotso in the Greater Accra Region when he addressed the fresh students as part of the matriculation process.

Prof. Pupluampu observed that, in the President's desire to achieve a 40% gross enrolment ratio in higher education, “We have recently made the case that government should partner credible private universities as an alternative strategy to expanding the state sector.”

The Vice-Chancellor, therefore, suggested that this would take the burden off the public purse whilst the government shouldered other responsibilities.

Prof. Puplampu repeated the call for a drastic change in tertiary education policy in Ghana by saying, “I will also not stop calling for the introduction of a fee credit/voucher system. This is a viable strategy which can increase access to tertiary education by allowing Ghanaian students to take up available slots in private universities.”

He observed that, with such a system, students can opt for programmes of their choice and top up the fees where necessary. “There are far too many overcrowded lecture halls in public universities while similar programme spaces remain available in private institutions,” he added.

He asked the fresh students to take control of their social space and watch the kinds of friends they made. “Remember peer pressure is often a pressure to be what somebody else defines as proper,” he asked.

The Professor said, recognizing the principle of educating the ‘whole person,’ CU had an equally important focus on spiritual formation through their weekly chapel services as well as extracurricular activities covering sports, creative expression, and community service.

For the 2021/22 academic year, CU admitted over 1,900 students. Of this number, the University matriculated 1,318, and an additional 206 on their ATHE programme.

The University has launched three education programmes, i.e., two years MPhil, one year MA and a six-month PGDip. “The weekend MBA programme at the Miotso campus continues to grow and we are seeing increasing uptake of our CE, IT, CS and Public Health programmes,” the Vice-Chancellor said.

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