Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum
‘THE MINISTER of Education, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, has said Ghana’s Gross Tertiary Enrolment Ratio (GTER) currently stands at 18.84 per cent, which significantly falls short of the target of 25 per cent envisaged by the nation’s Education Strategic Plan (ESP).
This, he stated, has a significant effect on producing a quality workforce across the various sectors of the economy and ultimately Ghana’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth.
“Studies show that about 60 per cent of GDP in developed countries is mostly contributed by the workforce with some form of Tertiary Education. Thus, GTER is one the key determinants for socio-economic transformation of any country. It is therefore not by accident that countries with more than 40 per cent GTER are developing faster,” he added.
Dr. Osei Adutwum, who is also the Member of Parliament for the Bosomtwe constituency in the Ashanti Region, was speaking at the 45th Congregation Ceremony of the Christian Service University College (CSUC) in Kumasi recently.
He underscored government’s commitment to increasing Ghana’s GTER from the current 18.84 per cent to 40 per cent by 2030, adding that private universities in Ghana such as the Christian Service University College, will play a critical role in this pursuit.
Speaking on the theme, “The Future of Tertiary Education in Ghana: The Place of Private Universities,” the minister stated that, private tertiary educational institutions have played significant roles in the tertiary education space by helping to solve the problem that exists between the limited intake of public universities against the increasing number of Senior High School (SHS) students that complete the schools every year.
Dr. Osei Adutwum disclosed that the Ministry of Education was working hard to reposition Ghana’s educational system to churn out a critical mass of assertive, employable, and empowered Ghanaians to spur up the socio-economic transformation of the nation.
In his report, the President of the CSUC, Prof. Sam Afrane said a total of 479 students comprising 108 Postgraduates; 350 Undergraduates; and 21 Certificate students from the Faculty of Humanities, School of Business and the Faculty of Health and Applied Sciences graduated.
Out of these students, 316 representing 66 per cent were males while 163 accounting for 34 per cent were females. In terms of performance, 12 undergraduate students graduated with First Class; 97 had Second Class Upper Division; 227 finished with Second Class Lower Division; while 14 students had Third Class.
FROM David Afum, Kumasi