UDS, Jayee University College and Datalink Institute Sanctioned

The National Accreditation Board (NAB) has sanctioned Jayee University College and Datalink Institute, both private-owned, to cease enrolment in all their programmes for the 2015/16 academic year.

The University of Development Studies, a government-owned tertiary institution, was also directed to cease fresh admissions to its Bachelor of Education in Health Science programme for 2015/16.

Information available to the B&FT indicates that Datalink Institute was directed to cease fresh admissions due to overcrowding and poor physical facilities, while Jayee University College was also sanctioned due to a myriad of issues and deficiencies identified by auditors.

The University of Education, Winneba -- the mentoring institution, is expected to provide close supervision of the students already enrolled in Jayee University College's programme until they graduate. This, according to NAD, is to ensure the students do not lose out on quality delivery.

Jayee University College has a student population of close to 1,000, and was affiliated to the University of Education, Winneba, in 2004.

The Institute was accredited by the National Accreditation Board to run a 3-year Advanced Diploma in Journalism (with options in Sports Reporting, Political Reporting, Environmental Reporting, and Economic Reporting) and Business Administration (with options in Accounting, Secretaryship and Management, Public Relations and Marketing)

In 2008, the National Accreditation Board re-accredited Jayee to run 4-year degree programmes.

The NAB has in recent times been sanctioning tertiary institutions that are underperforming and lack the accreditation to deliver quality education. The Board recently cited Ghana Institute of Languages, Legon, and Ghana School of Survey and Mapping, Accra, as being among 49 unaccredited institutions operating in the country.

The majority of unapproved tertiary schools are in the Greater Accra Region with 32, followed by the Ashanti Region with eight, and Brong-Ahafo, Western and Central Regions having three each. The Northern and Volta Regions each have one identified unaccredited institution, with none in the Eastern, Upper West and East Regions.

Employers complain about the quality of graduates at all levels of education, with some decidedly giving preference to Ghanaians who have schooled abroad. The price of the crisis in education will be a major constraint on the country’s ability to accelerate economic development.

The major issue confronting the tertiary education sector in the country is the ‘unemployability’ of its products.

"We have a paradox of insufficient intake space (that is the proportion of the age 18-24 group at the tertiary level) co-existing with graduate unemployment. Of course, this graduate unemployment situation is partly because the economy is not generating enough jobs, and only partly because of the quality of education being offered in terms of employable skills -- such as analytical and critical reasoning, communication skills, ICT competencies, work ethic and entrepreneurship," the IMANI Forum of Education said in its recent statement on the State of Education in Ghana.


Source: B&FT

Public Universities Milk Applicants Dry

Public universities have sworn to make up for the decline in government subvention, and these days anything goes -- including charging exorbitantly for on-line application scratch-cards when most of the applicants do not even get admitted.

Today most of the applications are either done directly on-line or applicants are asked to download and print application forms at their own cost.

This notwithstanding, the cost of applying to universities in the country, including public ones, has been increasing at a rate that has alarmed many applicants and their families; particularly those with low incomes.

Many people wonder what is peculiar about Ghanaian universities that they have to charge so much as application fees, when most universities globally do not charge a dime for applications.

Ghanaian universities are yet to muster the courage to stop charging application fees even as they have moved away from selling application forms to on-line application platforms.

Currently, scratch-cards to apply on-line for undergraduate programmes at the various public universities go for close to GH¢200 for most of the public universities.

Considering that a good number of applicants apply to a number of universities at the same time, the cost becomes even higher.

“I applied to three universities -- that is KNUST, Legon and UPSA -- and my brother paid almost GH¢600 for that,” said nineteen-year-old Gideon Amartey who is anxiously waiting to go to university. “If I had the money, I would have applied to two others,”he said.

“The transition of application forms from manual to electronic should have lessened the cost, I do not see why it is rather so expensive these days, said Reeves Rhommenze Romeo, a student of one of the universities.

“If the form was hard-copy it is quite understandable (even that should not be expensive, honestly), but it’s electronic now and the price is even higher than when it was manual. I still don't understand; maybe there is a reason for that but for now I don't understand why the fee goes up when it is electronic,” he said.

According to NUGS’ representative on the National Youth Authority, Prince David Orchill, the situation may even compel some potential university goers to settle for the security agencies since they do not have to pay much there.

“We are not very happy with the increasing cost of these scratch-cards. It is not fair. Now they have made the cards so expensive that students spend all their money on registration formalities and are left with no money to pay their fees after they get admitted,” he said.

The universities have argued that in view of dwindling government subvention, they are having to rely on internally generated funds to keep them going.

In its Strategic Plan, spanning the years 2014 to 2024, the University of Ghana says, for example, that its funding sources have changed “significantly” in the last decade since government support has dropped from being more than 90% of its budget to just over 55%.

“The significance of internally generated funds, relying extensively on fees from students, will grow,” it said.


Source: Business & Financial Times

Public universities owe GH¢30 million in utility bills

Public universities in the country owe over 30 million Ghana Cedis in utility bills.

The University of Ghana owes GH¢14,936, 868 in electricity and GH¢2,585,232 in water bills. The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology owes GH¢9,368,487 in electricity and GH¢1,842,687 in water bills.

The University of Mines and Technology owes GH¢553,047 in electricity bills and GH¢160,456 in water bills, the university of education Winneba owes GH¢3,414,287 and GH¢1,300,604 while the University of Energy and Natural Resources owes GH¢880,135 in electricity and GH¢200,471 in water.

The figures did not include that of the University of Cape Coast, the University of Development Studies and the University of Health and Allied Science and the University of Professional Studies, Accra.

The figure does not include bills of other tertiary institutions and the senior high schools.

Speaking at a public lecture at the University of Cape Coast Wednesday, the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Mr Seth Terkper said government was ready to disclose the true state of the nation to Ghanaians.

He was speaking on the topic “Challenges and Experiences of Managing the Economy of Ghana.”

Mr Seth Terpker, an alumnus of UCC suggested more efficient ways of using utilities, reiterating the need for the adoption of pre-paid electricity meters for use on the campuses.

He said there was the need to be more efficient and to check illegal use of electricity and also consider moving from the use of conventional electricity to biogas and solar.

He noted that “if we do not make these corrections, we would continue to have a legacy of subsidies which has often brought the nation to its knees.”

He indicated that though government was obliged to pay, the dispute was whether or not government could continue to pay the huge cost. He failed to comment on whether or not students would eventually be required to pay for utilities.

Mr Terpker further called for a concerted effort to put in a lot of gas infrastructure to augment electricity supply.

He said the World Bank had confirmed that Ghana’s growth was going to increase significantly in 2017 saying those gains must be consolidated.

He said despite the up and down swing and the challenges facing the country’s economy it was important to note that the country had made positive economic growth in the last 30 years.


- By Shirley Asiedu Addo, Graphic.com.gh

Coalition of Tertiary Students protest payment of utility bills

The Coalition of Tertiary Students, Ghana, say they will resist any attempt by government to make tertiary students resident on campus bear the cost of utilities.

According to them, they will not sit and watch government pass on its social compact expectations on its students.

Deputy Minister of Education in charge of Tertiary, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa early this month announced at a meeting of Campus Connect in Kumasi that, as part of measures to reduce the pressure on government coffers, tertiary students resident on campus would be charged for using utility services.

However, at a press conference organised Tuesday, the president of the Coalition of Tertiary Students, Ghana, Mr Duke Aaron Sasu said, “We students and student leaders oppose vehemently this ill thought through Government policy. We would resist any attempt by government to force the hands of students to bear the arrears of utility bills owed by the universities as a consequence of the failure of government of Ghana to exercise its responsibilities.”

They have therefore warned of mass nationwide student rallies to press home their demand.

The coalition has also asked all tertiary students across the country to embark on a ‘red alert crusade’ to register their displeasure, adding, “Every student of Ghana must identify with something red to register our displeasure until the Government calls off this sickening policy.”

The coalition is made up of the Wa and Nyankpala campuses of the University of Development Studies (UDS), the University of Mines and Technology, (UMaT), Kumasi and Takoradi Polytechnics, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and the University of Education, Winneba (UEW) Kumasi Campus.


Source: Written by Graphic.com.gh 

Minister of Education swears in UDS new governing council

Dungu (NR), April 21, GNA – Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyeman, Minister of Education, has sworn in a 14-member University for Development Studies (UDS) Governing Council for a two-year term, with a call on them to provide the policy direction and support UDS management to secure resources for infrastructure development.

She said UDS had a mandate that made it a community-engaged university, with a very close touch with communities in the country.

She said: “I am certain that the incoming governing council will lend its support to the policies and programmes of UDS in accordance with the university’s mandate."

Professor Stephen Bugu Kendie, Provost of the College of Humanities, Law and Business of the University of Cape Coast, is chairman of the  the 14  governing council, with Naa Alhaji Iddrisu Abu, Kumbun-Na Yiri the Second, Professor Haruna Yakubu, Vice Chancellor of UDS, Professor Amin Alhassan and Dr Daniel Bagah, as members.

The rest are: Dr Gordon A. Awandare, Mrs Sophia G. Songnabong, Dr. G.Nasser Adam, Alhaji T.A. Mahama, Dr. Osumanu I. Kanton, Mr Sulley A. Rahman, Mr Timothy Ayamdo and Mr Felix Abagali, as well as Mr Cletus N. Chikpa.

Professor Opoku-Agyeman said the time had come for the institutions of higher learning in Africa to continuously and seriously engage other discourses that would promote the well-being of nations.

She said the university was a place for knowledge creation and one of the means of making this happen was to deepen research and create new models and go beyond knowledge utilization and application of received information.

She entreated the Council to be guided by the functions as enshrined in the UDS Law 1992 (PNDCL 279), and work collaboratively with management of UDS towards attainment of set objectives of the university.

Prof Kendie, Council Chairman, gave the assurance that the new Council would continue from where its predecessors left, and called for team work and collaboration to carry the agenda of UDS forward.

He said the Council would bring its experience to bear in finding solutions to the diverse challenges of recent times, and expressed the hope that Council Members would be useful in helping shape and reshape the vision and mission of UDS’ strategies for achieving its objectives.

 Source: Ghana News Agency