Director for Tertiary Education at the Ministry of Education, Dr Eric Nkansah has disclosed that Ghana’s Gross Tertiary Enrolment Ratio (GTER) has increased from 18.84% to 20%. 

According to him, as of the beginning of last year, the GTER stood at 18.84%, a significant shortfall of the target of 25% envisaged by the Education Strategic Plan (ESP) 2018/2030.

Dr Nkansah said the development signifies steady progress towards its realization of the 40% by 2030.

Speaking on behalf of the Education Minister at this year’s University for Development Studies Harmattan School in Tamale, Dr Nkansah said studies show that about 60% of GDP in Developed Countries are mostly contributed by the workforce with some form of tertiary education, thus high GTER is a crucial driver for the socio-economic transformation of any country.

The theme was ‘Education for National Development: The Role of Academia, Industry and Development Partners.’

The Director added that the Education Ministry will spare no effort in working with all stakeholders including universities to realize the vision.

On his part, Vice Chancellor of the UDS, Prof. Gabriel Ayum Teye raised concerns over how far behind the Northers Region has been left in terms of education.

He said challenges such as derelict infrastructure used as classrooms, which scare pupils and students away from schooling in some communities, increase enrolment due to new policies without collation in infrastructure to accommodate them, low salaries and incentives for educational workers, lack of training and supervision of teachers to enhance their skills and performance resulting in the production of half-baked graduates and uncommitted teachers.

The Northern Regional Minister Shani Alahssan Saibu call on the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) to consider suspending the ongoing strike action and return to the negotiation table.

He called on them to support government in the implementation of E-levy to enable government raise enough revenue to address their concerns.

Alhaji Shani commended the UDS for its contribution to the manpower of the country.

He said the unique training strategy of the UDS, combining teaching with community work makes their products suitable for many industries and employment.

He commended the UDS for keeping the tradition assuring that government will continue to support the development agenda of the UDS, the Region and the nation at large.

The Director for the Institute of Interdisciplinary Research at the UDS Dr. Abdulai Abubakari said the Harmattan School is an annual event organise by the University as a platform that brings together the academia, entrepreneurs, NGOs and Civil Society Organizations to discuss important issues confronting  Northern Ghana and Country at large and proffering solutions to address these challenges.