Senior Lecturer at the Accra Technical University, Dr. Daniel Osabutey has described President Akufo-Addo’s dream of free tertiary education as “just a statement of optimism going forward.”
On his accord, the President may be just dreaming about the possibility of free tertiary education in the distant future. “But I don’t see it to be happening anytime soon.”
He believes the country can only continue to dream of free tertiary education if there are still challenges with free basic education.
Speaking to Samuel Eshun on e.TV Ghana’s Fact Sheet show, he said, “When you look at our secondary education we have lots of challenges. We lack infrastructure and facilities, we have inadequate teachers and you know them all. One would’ve thought that all this would’ve been fixed before the promise of free tertiary education.
It is good to dream big but I believe we have to solve the problem at the basic level first.”
He believes the involvement of private schools in the free SHS policy to augment the efforts of government, and the setting up of funds to support the policy can increase its quality.
“The free concept should also be restricted to day schools. If you want your child to go to boarding school, pay for the difference between the day and boarding school.”
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According to him the assessment of these recommendations, and how effective they are with the free SHS can then be replicated on the free tertiary education for its success.
“But to talk about free tertiary education now, it is just not feasible,” he reiterated.
Background
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said the government is considering free education at the tertiary level, following the successful implementation of the free senior high school (SHS) policy.
He said the free SHS policy had resulted in some 400,000 more children getting access to SHS education in the country, with the government addressing the infrastructure challenges that came with the policy.
“So in Ghana, we’ve taken the decision that we’re going full scale ahead, now that we have widened public education at the secondary school level for all and sundry, to try and replicate it at the tertiary level too,” he said.
President Akufo-Addo gave the hint at the Global Education Summit, co-hosted by the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, and the Kenyan President, Uhuru Kenyatta, in London.
