Distance education fees too high, GTEC must intervene - Dr Fred Kyei Asamoah

A member of Parliament's Select Committee on Education, Dr Fred Kyei Asamoah, has called on the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) to investigate what he described as the exorbitant fees charged by universities offering distance education programmes.

Speaking during a working visit by the committee to the GTEC headquarters in Accra, Dr Asamoah said the growing disparity between fees for regular and distance education programmes was worrying and risked encouraging universities to prioritise revenue generation over expanding access to higher education.

According to a report by Graphic Online on July 4, 2026, he argued that the situation was contrary to practices in many other countries, where distance education programmes are generally more affordable than conventional courses.

"This issue of disparity between the distance programmes and the regular programmes is way expensive, while in other jurisdictions, it is the other way round," Dr Asamoah said, questioning what measures GTEC was taking to address the matter.

Other members of the committee shared similar concerns, warning that some universities were taking undue advantage of adults seeking flexible learning opportunities by charging excessive fees under the guise of expanding access to tertiary education.

The committee's visit, led by Chairman Peter Nortsu-Kotoe, alongside Vice Chairman Joseph Kwame Kumah and Ranking Member Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, formed part of Parliament's oversight responsibilities to assess the operations of agencies under the Ministry of Education and identify areas requiring policy or legislative intervention.

During the engagement, Dr Adutwum also raised concerns about the relevance of some academic programmes offered by universities, arguing that certain courses did not adequately prepare graduates for the job market.

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He urged GTEC to introduce a ranking system for university programmes with support from development partners, saying such an initiative would help prospective students make informed choices while encouraging institutions to improve programme quality.

"Do the ranking so that people don't continue to live on their past glory," Dr Adutwum said, adding that society would naturally gravitate towards institutions offering programmes with strong employment prospects.

Responding to the concerns, GTEC Director-General Professor Ahmed Jinapor explained that the commission had no legal mandate to regulate fees charged for distance and weekend programmes because they were private arrangements managed by universities and their faculty.

"GTEC does not regulate the fees because those fees are not regulated by Parliament. We only come in when Parliament says this is the fees that are to be charged by the traditional universities," he explained.

Professor Jinapor said the commission's role was limited to ensuring that institutions maintained quality standards and adequate infrastructure for distance learning programmes.

He acknowledged that GTEC was aware that some institutions charged more than GH¢20,000 for certain distance programmes but stressed that current legislation prevented the commission from regulating such fees unless Parliament amended the law to grant it that authority.

The GTEC Director-General also expressed concern over the growing number of academic programmes that failed to meet labour market demands, saying many institutions simply replicated courses from foreign universities without considering Ghana's development needs.

"There is a penchant for institutions to just cut and paste programmes from outside Ghana and replicate them here, and we are fighting it," he said.

Professor Jinapor described the committee's visit as an opportunity to strengthen collaboration between Parliament and GTEC in improving tertiary education and supporting national development.

During the meeting, GTEC also presented its achievements over the past year through a briefing delivered by the Commission's Director of Corporate Affairs, Jerry Sarfo, on behalf of the Director-General.

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