Desist from increasing the cost of admission forms – Education Minister

• Posted on January 16, 2018
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

The Minister of State in charge of Tertiary Education, Professor Kwesi Yankah has sent out a strong message to public universities to desist from increasing the cost of admission forms for the next academic year.

This comes on the back of reports that some public tertiary institutions have increased the cost of admission forms for undergraduate and diploma programs for the 2018/2019 academic year.

According to the Business and Financial Times newspaper, some public universities have increased the cost of admission forms to about 18%.

The increment, according to the paper, follows government directive to  public universities to cede 34% of their internally generated funds to central government.

Speaking on 3FM’s Sunrise morning show on Tuesday, the minister said the decision by university authorities to increase the cost of admission forms was unfortunate.

“I must say this came to me with shock, universities appear to be taking advantage of the desperation of candidates who are anxious to enter the university,” he remarked.

The minister said the decision poses serious challenge to candidates trying to gain admission into these universities.

He therefore directed all public universities to halt the increment and revert to old prices.

“I am using this medium to ask all public universities to immediately revert to the charges they levied last year, until guidelines are articulated by the Ministry of Education,” Professor Yankah insisted.

Though most public universities see such increment as a means of raising funds for their various institutions, the minister said, government has made a lot of interventions to relieve these universities of their financial burdens.

By Irene Amesimeku