Gov’t to abolish payment of utility bills in public tertiary institutions – Education Minister

• Posted on February 27, 2017
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

The Minister of Education, Dr Mathew Opoku-Prempeh, has announced that government would soon abolish the payment of utility bills in public tertiary institutions.

He has also announced government’s intention to increase the amount of loans under the Student Loan Scheme and streamline its administration to enhance easy recovery of the loans.

The education minister also revealed that in addition to the Book and Research allowances for lecturers, the government would establish a Research Fund to facilitate further researches and innovations.

Dr Opoku-Prempeh, fondly called Napo, stated these in an address read on his behalf at the 1^st Congregation of Takoradi Technical University (TTU) in the Western Region on Saturday.

The university successfully turned out a total of 2,940 graduands in the 2015/2016 academic year, 91 of them were awarded Bachelor of Technology degrees and 2,435 were awarded Higher National Diplomas (HND).

One hundred and fourteen Civil Engineering graduands received HND Competency-Based Training (CBT) certificates from the National Board for Professional and Technician Examination (NABTEX).

Two Hundred and fifty-eight of the graduands received Non-tertiary Certificates of Attendance and 42 were also awarded the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) certificates.

“Let me also announce that a provision of GH¢55 million has been made in the 2017 budget to pay for the Book and Research allowance,” he stressed.

The minister added, “To ensure that the relevance of the technical universities is felt, there is a comprehensive programme to sponsor both lecturers and administrators to acquire higher degrees in order to impart the needed skills and knowledge to move the country forward.”

He pointed out that it is the aim of the government that the technical universities will be at the forefront in providing the technical workforce for the ‘one district, one factory’ policy.

“Each technical university will be supported by government to at least train craftsmen, technicians and technologists needed to man factories in the regions in which they are located,” he stated.

The education minister posited that the government would strengthen the National Council for Tertiary Education to effectively play its advisory and regulatory role in tertiary education.

The Vice Chancellor of the University, Rev Prof. John Frank Eshun, said the vision of the institution is to be the most preferred engineering and Applied Sciences University of choice, devoted to excellence in teaching and applied industrial research.

He mentioned that a number of projects were at various stages of completion, including the construction of the first phase of Institutional Facilities at Akatakyi campus in Ahanta, being sponsored by the African Development Bank.

The Western Regional Minister, Dr Kweku Afriyie, claimed, “Upon assumption of office some few months ago, we have shown enough commitment to improving technical and vocational educational training in the country.”

From Emmanuel Opoku, Takoradi