Public universities in Ghana have always been highly patronized by many Ghanaian students for providing high-quality education. This is partly because these public institutions are considerably cheaper than private institutions and they have long years of experience and expertise in providing the best education.
Webometrics.com ranked the University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana’s premier public university, as the best in the country and 1,124th in the world. Other public universities that followed were the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and the University of Cape Coast.
Tertiary institutions were instructed by the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) a few weeks ago to examine fees for the 2022–2023 academic year by a maximum of 15 % increment in all public universities. There are however claims that certain public tertiary institutions are charging up to 50% increment of the fees.
A Stab in the Back
The Ministry of Education (MoE) has mandated that public universities refund any tuition fees made beyond the 15% increase, claiming that the receipts were “illegal” and that steps must be immediately effected to repay the monies to students.
The Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Ministry Kwasi Kwarteng says that he expects the refunds to be given to the students without delay.
Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, the Minister of Education, following the discussion about the tertiary fees saga ordered the management of the University of Ghana (UG) on Thursday, January 5, 2023, to adhere to the 15% increase in tertiary fees. This comes after some students of the University of Ghana reported that the management of the school was charging higher fees than the approved fees for the next academic year. The ministry’s investigations also confirmed that UG had implemented an increment of fees of up to 37%.
How Did We Get this Insensitive as A Nation?
This is not fair to the students and parents considering that Ghanaians were faced with serious economic challenges the previous year. I was expecting that the government could ameliorate the economic plights of tertiary students by issuing a reduction in their fees for the upcoming academic year instead of an upward adjustment. Some students struggle to pay their fees, while others have to work extra jobs to be able to stay in school. The government should be considerate of the students and not overburden them financially. When students are unable to pay their fees, it affects them psychologically as they will not have a clear mind to study; this will have a ripple effect on their academics leading to poor performance.
The increment of fees may also force students who cannot afford to pay their fees to engage in socially unacceptable acts such as stealing, fraud, prostitution and other vices to settle their fees. This will in turn increase the crime rate in the country. To help solve this problem, the Students Loans Trust Fund should be widened to accumulate as many tertiary students who need imbursement for their fees.
Priscilla Fumadorh
Priscilla is an entrepreneur and a creative communicator who loves to communicate through writing. She is passionate about national economic issues and does not miss a chance to offer her opinions on them for the good of the country.
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