The Minister for Education, Haruna Iddrisu, has announced plans to amend the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) (Act 1023), to extend the deadline for tertiary institutions to acquire a Presidential Charter.

The move comes after GTEC in February 2024 gave a six-month ultimatum to all universities to get chartered or face possible closure — a directive that sparked intense public debate over the quality of certificates awarded by unchartered institutions and the high cost of meeting the requirements.

Appearing before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament, Mr Iddrisu said the government is reviewing the policy to avoid shutting down universities that serve thousands of Ghanaian students.

“Government is reviewing that position and there may be a policy review of it to extend the moratorium but certainly not to put in that not every qualified Ghanaian student has the opportunity to be admitted into a public tertiary institution,” he said.

The Minister cautioned that applying the law too rigidly could deny many qualified Ghanaians access to higher education.

“They will be in denial if we were to be high-handed in terms of the regulation, but that’s what the law requires them to do. So I may seek a review of the law in order that we extend the period of the charter and then learn from best practice — what happens in Australia, what happens in the US or UK — how are those private institutions able to cope with the public tertiary institutions,” he told the Committee.

Mr Iddrisu expressed satisfaction that more young Ghanaians are accessing higher education, describing it as a positive trend for national development.

“The joy is that in Ghana, more Ghanaian students of that age are accessing higher education, and that’s good for our country,” he said.

Addressing concerns about GTEC’s enforcement of the law, the Education Minister said the Commission’s actions are in line with its mandate but assured that the matter is being carefully reviewed.

“Chairman, this matter is being thoroughly looked at. The Director-General of GTEC is acting in accordance with his mandate and the law, and recognises that whoever is affected by it will be pronounced as he is doing. I’m awaiting a report from the GTEC Council for a briefing. Then I’ll come back to this House if you so desire,” he explained.

The Minister further acknowledged the operational and financial challenges facing some private and faith-based universities in meeting the charter requirements.

“If, for instance, you are providing higher education in biology and you don’t have a laboratory or chemistry or physics, then GTEC is not likely to support you to undertake that activity,” he said.

“So, in the law which was passed by Parliament, apart from the students who will be affected, there are also Ghanaians in the private sector many of them church-related institutions, whether it’s the Catholic Church, the Pentecostal Church, or the Presbyterian Church, providing higher education, but not to perpetuate it. It won’t be forever and ever.

But at least let’s give them some time, because the challenge is, how many students are there with a public tertiary education?”

He emphasised that while academic standards will not be compromised, the government will allow universities more time and flexibility to justify their investments and the quality of training they provide.

“Standards will not be compromised, but I think that we should allow them time and space to justify their expenditure and the training they are providing,” he said.