'Developing Tertiary Education is not our duty'-GETFund

The Administrator of the Ghana Education Trust Fund, (GETFund), Fosuaba Banahene, has debunked the notion that the GETFund is now responsible for the development of the country's tertiary institutions.

"The GETFund has not taken over government's efforts to develop tertiary institutions, as claimed by many stakeholders. It is only a supplement to funds from the central government," he said.

Mr. Banahene explained that the government was responsible for the improvement of tertiary education by way of infrastructure and other needed facilities.

He, therefore, asked authorities of tertiary institutions to urge the government to live up to its responsibility.

Mr. Banahene was speaking at the inauguration of some GETFund projects at the College of Agriculture Education of the University of Education, Winneba, at the Mam-pong Campus.

The ¢9.1-billion projects are a laboratory for training students in the sciences and applied sciences, a sports complex, an office block and a feedmill.

A ¢5.2-billion lecture theatre was also inaugurated at the Kumasi campus of the university. It has eight offices and two lecture halls for 530 students.

Mr. Banahene announced that ¢582 billion had been proposed to parliament for tertiary education and if the amount is approved, ¢28 billion out of it would be set aside for research by the tertiary institutions.

Professor Jophus Anamuah-Mensah was worried about the frequent power outages which, he said, were disrupting academic work at the Mampong campus and appealed to the government to provide the university with a generator.

He was happy about the GETFund administration's decision to provide fund for research by students.
Professor Anamuah-Mensah also appealed to the GETFund to adopt the Mampong campus and provide it with the needed basic amenities to promote teaching and research extension of research findings to the rural and per-urban farmers.

The Principal of the Mampong campus, Professor Ambrose Kwame Tuah, noted that any serious agricultural research required massive injection of capital for the acquisition of materials and upgrading of the skills of staff.

He was hopeful that the GETFund will sustain its scholarship scheme for the academic staff.

Source: The Ghanaian Times