Cover private tertiary institutions with GETFund- Dr Owusu-Bour

Accra, March 18, GNA - The Ghana Association of Private Tertiary Institutions (GAPTI) has appealed to the Government to extend facilities under the Ghana Eduction Trust Fund (GETFund) to cover private tertiary institutions to enable them to adequately cater for the inadequacies of their counterparts in the public sector.

Dr Yaw Owusu-Bour, President of the Association, who made the call, noted, "the establishment of the private tertiary institutions is one of the surest ways of overcoming the current problems of overcrowding in the public tertiary institutions".

He was speaking at the formal inauguration of GAPTI in Accra on Thursday.

Currently, there were 27 private tertiary institutions of various categories accredited by the National Accreditation Board in the country.

Out of this, 20 are in Accra while the remaining seven are in the Regions.

Dr Owusu-Bour stated that the advent and possible proliferation of private tertiary institutions had warranted the formation of a responsible body, which could build a mechanism for monitoring, supervising, checking and reviewing of educational policies, ethics and standards to meet the challenges of educational reforms in the country. He also called for the representation of GAPTI on the National Accreditation Board.

Dr Owusu-Bour gave the assurance that GAPTI would pursue the establishment of endowed students funding policy with local and external agencies to ease the constraints of financial burden of students.

He said the Association would ultimately ensure high quality of education within the private sector for the benefit of every qualified Ghanaian since education was the backbone of every dynamic society. Mr Paul Effah, Executive Secretary of the National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE), who inaugurated the Association, noted that the growth of the economy and reduction of poverty could be achieved through the development of the human capital.

"The involvement of the private sector in tertiary education is an important factor towards national development"' he said.

Mr Effah said since 1993, the population of public universities had increased from 21,000 to 70,000 without the corresponding increase in infrastructure development.

He asked private tertiary institutions to be innovative and creative to enable them to break new grounds to meet the challenges of modern educational trends.

Mr Effah stressed the importance of science and technology education and asked the executives of GAPTI to encourage their members to dwell more on the sciences rather than the humanities.

Professor Nathaniel Kofi Pecku, former Principal of the Methodist University, who was the guest speaker, said the Government should consider the payment of grants to private tertiary institutions.

"One would agree that State funds should not be used to fund capital development but students in private tertiary institutions are not there by choice but just because the State universities cannot offer them places."

He, therefore, called for scholarships for students in these institutions in addition to the extension of tax-free facilities to businesses and individuals that would support educational institutions.

The Reverend Dr David A. Dartey, Principal of the Wisconsin University College, Ghana, who chaired the function, noted that the private sector had always been a pioneer in education in Ghana and GAPTI would therefore be up to the task of mopping up "the excess brains roaming on the streets" for national development.

He commended churches and private individuals for responding positively to take part in tertiary education and also called on the government and non-governmental organisations to assist them to achieve their aims.