Source: tntnewspapergh.com
A call has been made to all stakeholders in the tertiary education space to make the West African sub-region the most attractive destination for the delivery of tertiary education.
To attain this, there is a need for a concerted effort from all stakeholders to collaborate through regional integration and most importantly through collaborative technology within its collaborative architect to advance this quality initiative.
The Director-General of the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC), Prof. Ahmed Jinapor Abdulaih, who made the call, lauded the leadership of the Association of West African Universities (AWAU) for its role in supporting the development of tertiary education in the sub-region.
He was speaking at the 9th AWAU Confab 2024 and the 11th annual general meeting of the Association.
The three-day conference had the theme: “Promoting quality tertiary education in West Africa through collaboration, regional integration and technology”, and it brought together all stakeholders in the tertiary education space in the West African sub-region.
Some of the issues discussed were regional integration and educational curriculum, technology and educational transformation, partnerships, collaboration and inter-university linkages, regional integration and quality tertiary education, globalisation and quality tertiary education, among others.
Citing an example for the sub-region, Prof. Jinapor recounted how Ghana had enjoyed some relative peace and stability in the sub-region over the past decades, registered some enviable democratic records, exhibited adequate energy supply and also proven to be the preferred destination for foreign settlement.
“Our vision and aspiration being the current leadership of GTEC is to position tertiary education delivery in Ghana as the game changer in the foreign resource mobilisation of the Ghanaian economy within the shortest possible time,” he said.
The GTEC Director General called on all stakeholders within the private tertiary education delivery sector who require charter to take the exercise seriously since non-compliant institutions would be forced to close upon expiration of the window of application as captured in the law.
Prof. Ishaq Oleyede, the Registrar of the Joint Admission Board in Nigeria, in an address read for him, indicated that the West African sub-region happens to be among regions where education started dating back several decades.
He stated that “universities in the sub-region are among the best in the world due to the quality of faculty and programmes they run.”
Prof. Oleyede added his voice to the call for collaboration among tertiary institutions in the sub-region towards research, conferences and other policies which could help promote the development of their programmes for the development of their national economies.
The Minister for Education, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, in an address read for him, also urged all local and foreign stakeholders to continue to partner with governments to get the best support in the areas of policy and other ways they could develop education in their respective countries.
He urged the youth to strive to get the best education by choosing courses which could potentially develop their countries and the rest of the world.
The Education Minister enumerated some of the development measures being put in place to fast-track the nation’s transformation through education in the form of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programmes.
He was upbeat that the various interventions being churned out in the nation’s educational sector would leapfrog the nation’s development.
Background
By the 11 Act of GTEC 1023, all private tertiary institutions must be chartered, or they must demonstrate evidence of processes towards same by August 31st 2024 before they stay in business.
Currently, GTEC has received 77 applications in that regard, with 43 ready to be chartered and 21 to be chartered in two years’ time. Some, unfortunately, are in distress conditions and are supposed to be shut down.
Dr.Osei Yaw Adutwum, Education Minister
