The government has formed a committee that includes the Ministry of Education, the Ghana Education Service (GES), and the university authorities to address rising concerns about the high prices of hostel accommodation services nationwide. Haruna Iddrisu, Education Minister, noted at the inauguration of Governing Councils for Jasikan College of Education and the University of Engineering and Agricultural Sciences on Tuesday, May 11, “Private sector participation in hostel development must not drive higher fees for our students.”
He described widespread public concern over recent changes in hostel fees and reported that a committee comprising the Ministry of Education, the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC), and vice-chancellors of public universities is in continual consultations to reach an amicable understanding. Iddrisu said the government will not permit private partnerships in educational infrastructure to thrive without appropriate safeguards and stressed that the public interest and social values should be kept at the core of the provision of such services. It was underlined by him that government would undertake a socially responsible model of public goods delivery based on the concerns of society at large.
The Minister also stated that the University of Engineering and Agricultural Sciences is set to admit 800 of the pioneering batch by October of this year. The government is, he said, developing further public universities, including one in the Western North Region. Proposed public universities, as well as a plan to create more public universities, will reach the President and Cabinet for policy directions, said Mr Iddrisu. He assured people in the Western North Region that they are not being left behind and stressed that the region is still part of the government’s larger plan to extend access to higher education nationwide.
Editor:
Obiri-Yeboah
