FUNDING TERTIARY EDUCATION IN GHANA: MY THOUGHT

Many leaders and managers of education the world over, believe the best way of eradicating poverty and invariably developing a nation is through enhancing the ingenuity of the citizenry through, accessible, affordable and quality education. The poverty index of sub-Saharan Africa stands at 2 out of every three persons (major criterion being those who leave on less than a dollar a day). This therefore presupposes that African governments should make investing in education a major priority. This has not been the case, university education for instance has been starved of funds, that is why we must all bring our suggestion to bear, in an effort towards ameliorating, if not wiping out the situation.
Elsewhere (especially in America) government gives less than 10 percent of what is needed in running universities as subvention, the remaining over 90% is raised by the Universities through three major ways;
1. Fees charge on students
2. Sale research outcomes
3. Strategic alliances with the cooperate world
Here in Ghana the case is different; government gives only a paltry 17% of what is needed in running Universities (this is usually in the form of emoluments of lecturers and other workers) and more than 30% of university students go through "hell" to be able to defray the current charges. A rise will inadvertently mean a significant rise in the percentage that will be deprived of university education on the bases of their pockets and not brains. Surely the essence of education mentioned afore will be defeated.
Again, our tertiary institutions are bereft of the necessary equipment and logistics to even contemplate pioneering the second source of funding in America. The input will be poor and a chaffy outcome would be inevitable.
These challenges clearly signify how peculiar our situation is and the need for us to look within and be more innovative, if our desire is to get the problem resolved. The introduction of a new tax regime aside, VAT, NHIS and Communication tax will put the economy under duress and strangulate economic growth. I therefore suggest three pragmatic ways of going about this.
1. Many students go for the students' loan when they know they don't need it. What can be done is an arrangement with the Universities to pay the loans of students directly into University accounts. This would abate the instance of students going for the money when they do not need it and give universities the opportunity to prop-up their charges to meet academic and research demands. In this blueprint, those who fall below the ability to pay such charges would then apply for the students loan which will be paid directly to the University of study and not the individual. One may ask, where will SLTF get the money from. It is noteworthy that the component of VAT for SLTF is adequate in funding this plan, if transparent management is employed. Again, a lot of students who are able to afford the fees won't apply for it cos it will not come directly to them to spend extravagantly.
2. Segmenting our tax system to levy the rich in society is another lustrous plan. In this plan, a slight increase in tax shall be imposed on some goods and services considered to be patronized by the rich in society. For instance, tax component of the the cost of cars above 30 thousand dollars could be appreciated. An aggregation of these funds, coupled with strategic investment will yield something quiet substantial to cushion the finances of Universities.
3. Striking an alliance between the cooperate world and government or the Universities has been seen in times past as almost entirely next to impossibility. With no background in economics, i believe the four factors of entrepreneurship have labor as one of the prime factors. An arrangement could be made between the Universities and the cooperate world, with government playing a supervisory role, for students to work as interns in such firms. In this arrangement, these students will not be paid, but will be given allowances for their upkeep, and the money for their services given to the Universities to be shared on a pro rata basis.Also government could entice the extractive industry with tax incentives to make a commitment of their profits to funding University education. The advantage here is that, the monies will not go to the consolidated fund as tax, where accessing it through the budget will require unimaginable effort, but will go directly into an account specially created to cushion University funds. Further, the arrangement to offer students as interns will imbue them with the tenets of the working world and hence be adequate preparation towards work after school.
I believe as and when we get the opportunity to interact with the major stakeholders of tertiary education more innovations will come up. We the University Students' Association of Ghana want to make the assurance that, we are fully committed to attending to the needs of our future and country will remain resolute and relentless in giving alternatives to the appropriate quarterses with the view of improving the system. Thanks for reading this, your doubts and opinions are welcome. LETS RECLAIM OUR GLORY!