The Ministry of Education will hold a national dialogue on funding tertiary education in the country on August 24 and 25, 2011, to fashion out a clear cut strategy on how to deal with funding of tertiary education. A Deputy Minister of Education, Mr Mahama Ayariga, made this known at a press conference in Accra on Friday. The Minister of Education, Mrs Betty Mould-Iddrisu, and the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, recently called on the National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE) to hold a national dialogue on funding tertiary education to address the challenges facing that area. Mr Ayariga said it was in response to the calls and the challenges in funding tertiary education that the national event would be held. He said there was the need to come out with a financing framework that all stakeholders; the government, school authorities and student’s would comply with. He said the dialogue would be attended by stakeholders, including development partners, rectors of polytechnics and colleges of education, vice chancellors of the various universities and members of the public. Mr Ayariga noted that Ghana was strategically placed when it came to the delivery of tertiary education with people coming from countries in the sub-region to pursue higher education. He said there were more people trying to access tertiary education, thus the need to have a good funding regime to ensure that quality was not compromised. On the recent increases in fees at the University of Ghana, the deputy minister called on the authorities and the students to dialogue on the matter. Mr Ayariga said having received complaints from the students on the increment which would take effect from this academic year, he said, he went to the university to find out more on the issue. He said he was told that the increment in the Academic Facility User Fee was not more than 10 per cent while there were some increases in fees for examination, health and sports. On sports, he said, the authorities indicated that they had to increase the fees because some of the sporting activities competed in were both held outside the campus and sometimes outside the country. That, he said, used to be solely borne by the university, and so it decided to ask the students to contribute so that resources could be used in other areas of academic activities. Mr Ayariga, said the authorities added GH¢ 50 to examination fee because of the cost in holding examination for students, explaining that the authorities planned to overhaul the system through the introduction of CCT cameras and the decentralisation of examinations for effective supervision as a result of malpractices. On fees charged by private hostels, he said, the vice chancellor indicated that the private facilities had been asked to charge fees not more than what was charged at the Hilla Limann Hall of residence. “I don’t think that there has been adequate dialogue on the issue”, he said and advised the university authorities to do well to bridge the communication gap between the authorities and the students. Source: Daily Graphic/Ghana