The Education Ministry will implement the first phase of a programme aimed at expanding access to tertiary education in the country, the Finance Minister has announced.

The programme, dubbed the Open University Ghana Programme, is also targeted at increasing access to skills training among the youth.

The Minister disclosed this when he presented the 2022 budget statement to Parliament on Wednesday.

“The [Education] Ministry will implement Phase I of the Open University Ghana Programme in 2022 to expand access to quality tertiary education and skills training to the ever-increasing population, especially the youth, in Ghana.

This intervention was first mentioned in May this year by the Education Minister, Dr Yaw Adutwum.

In an interview, he explained that the Open University Programme will see the government establish universities nationwide for people to be educated whilst using a computer.

Dr Adutwum said that the programme was part of government’s agenda to improve the education sector.

Meanwhile, the budget also mentioned that the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission “will develop a National Ranking Framework for tertiary education institutions and publish its maiden ranking using the Framework.”

Again, a government policy that removes the requirement for student loan applicants to produce a guarantor before accessing a loan is set to be implemented in 2022.