In recent years, declining student enrollment in private tertiary institutions has been a hot topic.

Many institutions have been brought to the brink of breakdown as a result of this.

To remedy the situation, Garden City University College in Kumasi has resorted to giving discounts to students who refer others to the school.

Speaking at the 16th matriculation ceremony, the President, Prof. Edward Kwame Asante, said about 90 percent of the students admitted every year come from referrals.

He says the move has led to over 300 percent increase in student enrolment.

The discounts on their tuition fees are supposed to motivate the students.

“We were facing declining numbers. The figures were dwindling every year.

“When I came, I matriculated, 579 students. The previous year, they had matriculated 442, but this morning we’re matriculating 1,996, that tells you the exponential growth.

"The best advertisement is to make sure your students are satisfied and they'll spread the gospel. To motivate them to do more, we've decided to give them a token," he added.

Prof. Asante reiterated the call for the government to support private universities with some forms of subventions.

“Our staff contribute to the national cake. They pay taxes. Even though we’re all part of this country. No subventions.

“GetFund is from our taxes so why can’t we get some form of subsidies?” he said.

He again pledged to maintain the staff-to-student ratio for the nursing and midwifery department to ensure effective teaching and learning.

“At a point in the admission process we had to stop admitting nursing students so that we will not go beyond the recommended staff-to-student ratio,” he said.