The plans of the government to construct five (5) new universities have been given a boost by a bill laid before parliament by the Minister of Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum.
The bill if approved as a legislative law will give the necessary legal backing for the construction of the five new universities. While the opposition NDC’s John Mahama has indicated that the NDC will build a university in each of the new regions as one of their policies for the education sector if they win the 2024 general elections, the NPP-led government has taken bold steps to initiate the processes already.
The five new universities to be built are captured under the following bills.
- University of Mampong Bill, 2024
- University of Health, Agriculture and Life Sciences, Kintampo Bill, 2024
- University of Engineering and Applied Sciences Bill, 2024
- University of Engineering and Agricultural Sciences, Bunso Bill, 2024
- University of Local Governance and Development Bill, 2024.
What are the names of the 5 new universities to be built in Ghana?
The names are
- University of Mampong. This will be located at Mampong
- University of Health, Agriculture and Life Sciences to be located at Kintampo
- University of Engineering and Applied Sciences
- University of Engineering and Agricultural Sciences, Bunso
- University of Local Governance and Development Bill
Details provided by the Minister of the five universities
According to the education minister, the University of Mampong the Mampong Technical College, and the Mampong Campus of the Akenten Appiah-Menka University of Skills Training and Entrepreneurial Development will be efficiently managed under this arrangement which will give them some level of local structure.
“Mr Speaker, over the years we’ve seen that Appiah-Menka used to be part of the University of Education, Winneba, and it became independent. So, this is part of the school’s reorganization to ensure efficiency,” the Minister stated.
“Mr Speaker, the University at Kintampo has been there for years, a College of Health Sciences, and we believe that given its track record, it can be upgraded into a university.”
According to the Minister a university in the Ahafo region is timely as it will offer the new region a benefiting tertiary institution. The University of Engineering and Applied Sciences to be sited in the Ahafo Region is expected to have all the needed modern edifice.
“Mr Speaker, we have the Bunso, which is going to be an Engineering and Agricultural Science is also to add value to the stock of universities we have in this country and especially as it applies to enhancing Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education in this country.”
The new universities are very unique and future-looking because they focus mainly on engineering and the University of Engineering and Applied Sciences to be sited in the Ahafo Region.
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“As it is now, there are about 22 percent, which is not bad for a sub-Saharan African country, but we know that irreversible development occurs when you can move the gross section enrollment ratio up to about 60 percent,” Dr Adutwum stated.
“So, Mr Speaker, this is in line with the efforts of this government and past governments to ensure that we can increase our gross tertiary enrollment ratio.”
Dr Cassiel Ato Baah Forson, the Minority Leader, expressed concerns about the lack of a briefing on the fiscal implications of the bills, considering the limited time for a change in government.
He furthered that Oti and the Western North Regions which are new regions do not have universities.
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“But Mr Speaker, the only concern I have is that we have four months into the next election and five universities being established, and the fiscal implementation is not well known and so in the explanatory notes, the Minister should have added the fiscal implications to the new universities that they intend to establish.
“Because it is not just a university by name, you will have to provide amenities, you have to provide serious infrastructure to befit a university. How are you funding it? It is only right that you should have added the state of fiscal implications, and what you intend doing, going into the establishment of these universities.”
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