The Ranking Member on the Education Committee of Parliament, Peter Nortsu-Kotoe is calling for private and public sector partnerships to address the perennial accommodation challenges in public universities.

According to him, the government on its own cannot resolve the inadequate hostel facilities, hence the need for a collaborative efforts.

Speaking on the Pulse on JoyNews, he said “There should be a pragmatic approach or procedure to making sure that we increase the number of accommodation facilities across the various schools.”

“The government should make sure that they provide funds to those who are ready in the private sector to put up these accommodation facilities at very affordable rate or interest. We should give them interest-free loans as it is important. They can put up accommodation for students and then we will negotiate the rate of payment and even the rent that students will pay.”

His comments come in the wake of some first-year students of the University of Ghana said to have been stranded due to a lack of accommodation.

On the back of this, he explained that with a partnership, more hostels will be built, and students will focus on studying rather than being concerned about where to lay their heads.

“Government must come out with programmes that will assist developers so they can put up hostels and make it affordable to the students. Otherwise, we will be failing in the provision of quality education at the tertiary level,” he said.

Meanwhile, he said the committee had already made recommendations to the Minister of Education who is expected to carry the matter to the Cabinet for the necessary steps to be taken.