This is because the tertiary institutions currently do not have the capacity to absorb the would-be graduates whose numbers have shot up significantly following the implementation of the free senior high school policy by the government.
About 430,000 students gained admission into senior high schools in 2018/2019, 90,000 more than the previous year, according to the Education Ministry.
Current first- and second-year senior high school students will have a hard time accessing tertiary education from the year 2020 when they would have qualified to enter.
This is because the tertiary institutions currently do not have the capacity to absorb the would-be graduates whose numbers have shot up significantly following the implementation of the free senior high school policy by the government.
About 430,000 students gained admission into senior high schools in 2018/2019, 90,000 more than the previous year, according to the Education Ministry.
The Professor of Economics at the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER) puts it bluntly, the universities currently do not have the capacity to let in those who will meet the minimum entry qualifications.
In 2014/2015 academic year, students enrolled in both public and private tertiary institutions in the country were 319,659. This figure is likely to rise by three-folds prompting Prof. Quartey to alert the government not to wait “till [free SHS graduates] get to the university” before they begin to look for solutions.
Because it will not work, he cautioned.
“Let us start planning ahead because the numbers have doubled [and] the universities don’t have the capacities,” the Professor suggested.
In 2015, the University of Ghana reportedly turned away over 17,000 Ghanaian students who applied to pursue various programmes. The decision was mainly due to the limited number of facilities and staff in the school among other factors.
Prof. Quartey further cited for instance last year, when parents of some 11,000 first-year students who gained admission into the country’s premier university have had to compete for only 3,000 beds, a development he said was “very frustrating.”
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