Cabinet has not taken any decision on fees

Cabinet has not taken any decision to increase the user fees for the country's universities, Mr Kwabena Agyapong, the President's Press Secretary said in Accra on Wednesday.

He said: "It is incorrect for Dr Gamal Nasser Adam, a lecturer of the University of Ghana (UG) to link any alleged increase in the user fees to the Cabinet which has not taken such a decision".

Reacting to a publication in the March 5-6 edition of "The Insight", under the banner headline " Students to pay 16 million cedis fees"; Mr Agyapong said:

"The deliberate attempt by some people to malign the government and create disaffection among the people must stop".

He said Ghanaians believed and trusted in President John Agyekum Kufuor to deliver the country from its socio-economic mess and asked Ghanaians to reject the old politics of vile propaganda of untruth.

The Press Secretary said government was committed to improving the quality of education in the country, especially tertiary education, and over the past two years had placed high premium on quality education for the youth.

Mr Agyapong said in this year's Budget about 68 per cent of budgetary allocation on social services was allocated to improve education in addition to a number of interventions made to encourage private participation in education.

He said the National Accreditation Board had provided accreditation to 13 new institutions in the tertiary education sector to resolve overcrowding and improve capacity in the universities.

Mr Agyapong said as an international institution the University of Ghana was expected to allocate about 10 per cent of its intake to foreign students and any vacancy left was to be filled by Ghanaians, who qualified.

The publication was based on a public discussion organised by the Socialist Forum of Ghana, sponsored by the Insight and Radio Gold on the topic: " Education, The Case For Mass Access" in Accra.