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Public universities get ready for funding cut - Amissah-Arthur

 

Vice President Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur made the statement at the opening of the second summit of the Times Higher Education Africa Universities, at the University of Ghana attended by delegates from African universities, tertiary and research institutions.

He said universities should look at innovative ways to fund themselves.

Currently, government provides funds for the running of various public universities through the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) and other direct allocations.

Starr FM reports he said future developments could compel government to channel such resources into other sectors of the economy.

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“As we develop, other needs will come and at some point, the GETFund will have to stop and that is the place where the crisis will occur.

"So we need to anticipate and prepare for the future of no GETFund because we may need the fund to do other things in environment, climate change and so on and therefore the university will be put in a position that it has to rely on its own devices."

He also used his opening address to charge African universities to develop critical ideas for the continent’s development and challenge the traditions that impede progress.

He said Ghana's public universities have not taken seriously the impacts of globalisation and technological changes.

He said African universities could not afford to stand still in the face of globalisation because they risked being overtaken and would eventually lose their relevance, the Ghana News Agency reported.

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Vice President Amissah-Arthur stated that statistics from Ghana’s public universities suggested that the lessons of globalisation and the impact of technological change had not been taken seriously.

He said African universities were subject to the new information-driven global economy with the expectation for them to survive and thrive as market-like organisations, like their counterparts elsewhere.

To continue to be relevant for the people to finance their activities they must re-invent and maintain their significance by developing and maintaining high academic standards, Vice President Amissah-Arthur said.

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