The President and Founder for All Nations University, a Koforidua-based private tertiary institution, Dr. Samuel H. Donkor, has argued that tertiary education is the engine for economic growth.
According to him, tertiary education plays an important role in boosting economic growth, hence, the government must be purposeful in supporting and steering its tertiary education systems.
To him, support for higher education must be planned within the context of resource and budget constraints, adding that under the current economic conditions, cost sharing was a fundamental consideration in financing public tertiary education.
Dr. Donkor suggested that the government must allocate funds to back student loans.
He contended that student loans should cover full tuition for programs being pursued in addition to living expenses, and that it should be accessible to every student – whether public or private – without any exception.
Speaking at the 20th Anniversary of All Nation University, Dr. Samuel Donkor said the brilliant idea of allocating a percentage of the Value Added Tax (VAT) for education should be applauded, as it created a revenue stream for funding education.
He cited, for instance, the South African government and private companies’ bursaries that sponsor students who either excel academically or require funding for their tertiary education, adding that South African companies strive to help students achieve their dreams by covering the cost of attending tertiary institutions through educational loans.
He suggested that instead of using Student Loans Trust or any other government-run establishment, funds for students should be channelled through banks.
He said that there was the need for the government to provide funding through the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFUND) to approved financial institutions at a reasonable interest rate, preferably not more than 5% per annum.
