2014 Conference For International Private Universities Launched in Accra

Representatives at The Conference Launch

Out of the 60 Private Universities in Ghana, only one of them has the Presidential Charter to award its own degrees and certificates, Professor Kwesi Yankah, President of Central University College, has disclosed.

Prof. Yankah, who is also a Fellow of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences, noted that Private Universities had been discriminated against, despite their consistent efforts of supplementing government's effort in offering quality education.

He said that it was important for the public to break the negative myths surrounding private universities such as the charging of high fees, self-centredness, offering inferior education and accepting low aggregates by applicants, noting that it was time to involve all stakeholders, especially government, to give best university education in the country.

″Indeed nobody establishes a school or an educational institution to serve a private end; education is a public good" he added.

Prof. Yankah, who was speaking at the launch of the International Private Universities Conference and Exhibition 2014 in Accra, on Thursday, said even though fees in private universities were relatively high, current trends in public universities pointed to a gradual closing up of the gap.

He cautioned that even though good aggregates were important to get one enter a university, it might not necessarily transform one to be functional in the job market, adding that employers looked beyond certificates and considered factors like discipline, self confidence, the application of skills and innovativeness.

He noted that in spite of considerable setbacks in funding, private universities had been noted for being innovative in course content and curriculum, and indulged in considerable academic adventure, where public universities had been more conservative and steeped in relatively unchanging traditions.

In a presentation, Nii Armah Addy, a member and a representative of private universities, noted that private Universities should be positioned by government to become first choice universities rather than an option.

For his part, Anis Haffer, a member of the academia stressed the importance of functionality of graduates after their university education.