Private universities call for equity

Heads of Private Universities have called on the government and state institutions to accord private universities due recognition in the community of educational institutions in the country.

Professor Kwesi Yankah, Chairman, Council of Independent Universities (CIU), who made the call said no private university has secured Presidential Charter within the past 13 years even though they strongly contribute to national development by raising prominent persons.

“For the past 13 years no single institution affiliated to a public university has been considered worthy of autonomy, this is clear signal that all is not well in the processes towards attainment of charter,” he said at a public forum to celebrate the ninth anniversary of CIU.

Speaking on the theme, “Private Universities as Partners in National Development”, Prof Yankah, said: “How can we help you get a charter, appears now to be ringtone of the National Accreditation Board (NAB).

“Rather than how can we prolong your walk to freedom, which had been the perception of member institutions of CIU.”

Prof Yankah said it is the hope of the Council that the inclusion of a Private University Representation within National Commission on Tertiary Education Governing Board, would promote greater co-operation between private and public universities.

It would also foster the recognition of private and public universities as equal partners within the tertiary educational sector.

He pointed out that although the University of Health and Allied Sciences at Ho in the Volta Region and University of Energy and Natural Resources at Sunyani in the Brong- Ahafo Region are new institutions, they are established by Acts of Parliament and therefore state owned making them fully fledged to grant their own degrees.

“The only difference between these new universities and others is simply because those still struggling for recognition such as Ashesi University, Pentecost University, Methodist University and Zenith University Colleges are privately owned.

“These are not universities; they are called ‘university colleges’ to give you the false impression that they are not yet mature, or are probably inferior and can operate only under the supervision of state-owned universities”.

The Chairman said the concept of affiliation to another university solely hung around the neck of private universities and should be abolished, stressing that it is obsolete, counterproductive, and a disincentive to investment in the private educational sector.

Dr Osei K. Darkwa, President of the Ghana Technology University College, said Private Universities admitted more than 26 per cent of students who complete senior high schools every year.

He said Private Universities have introduced an innovative way of studying known as the transnational education, where students could study for the degree of a foreign university without being taught on the home campus of that university.

Dr Darkwa said another contribution of private universities to national development has to do with providing funds for public universities through mentorship and affiliation process to supplement the revenue of the public universities.

He urged the government to start a process of gradually phasing out the system of affiliation to public universities, and restructure the NAB, as well as streamline its operations to solely maintain standards in universities as done in several African countries.

He also said it is necessary for the state to make scholarships and other forms of support available to private universities, seeking to upgrade their faculty or lecturers to pursue terminal degrees; and capacity building at the graduate level should be considered a national responsibility.