DEVELOP ADMISSION DISPENSATION...for students from less-endowed schools (PAGE 11)

THE Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, has called on private universities in the country to develop admission dispensation that would be more favourable to students from less-endowed senior high schools (SHS).
That, he said, would create equal access to tertiary education for such students to enable them to develop their potential to be useful to society.
“Students from most of the local SHSs with poor infrastructure and the needed teaching and learning materials may not obtain the requisite grades but could equally compete academically with their counterparts in the well-endowed schools when given a chance”, Mr Ampofo stated.
Speaking at the first annual Conference of Heads of Private Universities (CHPUG) at Koforidua, the Minister said they had all seen students from poor schools in rural communities who had excelled better than their colleagues from privileged schools in urban areas.
The event, which was on the theme, “Private university education - complementing government’s effort in education,” was attended by all heads of private universities across the country and was used to discuss challenges facing members of CHPUG and to discuss the way forward.
The Regional Minister said since quality education was the best legacy every modern society could bequeath to its youth to enable them to become useful citizens, every effort should be made to make tertiary education accessible to all.
He, however, indicated that while majority of students from well-endowed schools always stood a better chance of gaining easy access to tertiary institutions, their counterparts from the poorly-resourced schools, mostly in rural areas, were disadvantaged.
To address this disparity, Mr Ampofo called for collaboration among all stakeholders, particularly the members of the CHPUG and the government, to address such problems.
“We can collectively achieve this challenge and make university institutions the best place where quality education can be obtained by all,” he stressed.
As part of support for private universities, Mr Ampofo reiterated the government’s readiness to take a second look at the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund), to consider all stakeholders, including private universities.
“Since your role as universities is complementary to the government’s commitment to enhancing the delivery of quality tertiary education in the country, we will see how best to extend the GETFund to you,” he assured.
The Regional Minister also expressed concern about the poor management of waste and urged the universities to introduce environmental and sanitation programmes that could solve the sanitation problems facing the country.
The President of CHPUG, Dr Samuel H. Donkor, called on the government to extend the GETFund to private universities to enable them to contribute meaningfully to the delivery of quality tertiary education in the country.