<<Print>>

Government has directed all public tertiary institutions which charge fees in US dollars, to cease the practice. Citing the Ghana Institute of Management and Administration (GIMPA) as an example, Deputy Minister for Education in charge of tertiary education, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa in an interview on the Citi Breakfast Show, said the phenomenon will stop in the coming weeks. �We have raised concern about dollarized fees and we have asked that the practice stops. They have indicated that it was just a benchmark and that you can still pay in cedis at their own exchange rate but we have said that no, let�s take off the dollars and let�s use cedis. That is a reform which we expect that in the next few weeks, we should see happening.� Hon Ablakwa revealed that government was working to improve the infrastructural base of tertiary institutions. Various groups, educationists and individuals had earlier expressed concern about the capacity of public tertiary institutions to accommodate the about 405,000 students who completed Senior High School this year. The Midwifery Training College in Atibie has been forced to suspend intake of students for the Health Assistants Clinical (HAC) programme since 2010 due to inadequate classroom infrastructure for students. Mr Ablakwa promised that the problem of accommodation into tertiary institutions was going to be solved with the introduction of innovative initiatives such as distant learning programmes. �Furniture, classroom space etc are certain factors that applicants should consider when applying to these tertiary institutions,� he pointed out, however. According to Hon. Ablakwa, one of the means by which government was looking to improve the educational system in the country was through the recruitment of more lecturers. He noted that the government had already allocated GHC 7million to boost infrastructure in the tertiary institutions.