STUDENTS IN PRIVATE TERTIARY EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS HAVE A CASE, BUT ..........

Well it’s been such a long time, I was beginning to wonder if I had been hit by the famous “writers block”. As it turns out, I am solid, just been lazy about writing that is all. Several ideas have been tossing around in my head for some time now and this morning one began to nag and bang. The clamor it was creating was so loud I am sure the police man that stopped me for routine car checks must have heard it. After the routine check, I decided to turn on my radio. On turning on my radio (normally on 101.3 BBC Ghana) I chanced on Radio Universe (105.7) of the University of Ghana. As usual it was a panelist program. The day was 7^th July, 2013. The time spent discussing issues in Ghana if judiciously applied to production should see our country excel on all fronts of production; but that is another topic for another day.

Tuning in to Radio Universe (RU) today had me listening to the idea that had been clanging up my mind this morning; the case of government participation in private tertiary institutions. Many a time have I walked the corridors of educational powers, where experts have discussed, the plight of the Ghanaian Student in seeking tertiary education. We all admit that the publicly funded or assisted tertiary institutions are inadequate to absorb the numbers of qualified applicants. I have always argued that the issue is and has never been the numbers of publicly assisted institutions but rather of capacity. Given the available development space, it is surprising to note that only 20% of Land Resource of all Tertiary Education Institutions has been developed into teaching, learning, research and housing facilities for the universities across board. The usual point of blame is funding. Sometimes I am inclined to buy into the argument of some experts who whisper that there was no need to create two publicly funded universities how much more a third one. They whisper because in Ghana to dissent from the ruling governments direction is to be of the opposition. One would expect that for a country with strained resources, expanding what we have already created would be the focus and not the creation of new and sure to be underfunded publicly funded universities.

So as I listened to the students discuss their wish for government participation in private education (oh and the English was terrible) I could not help but wonder if our educational system was not doomed to fail. Not only were they at sea on the topic, but when asked to suggest intervention lines which the government might take in this Private-Public Partnership, they were very unrealistic in their suggestions. I seek not to bash the panelist, no, that will not be fair to them, for in their capacity and by the standards of education, that was the best they could think of. The argument for this government intervention road on several waves, one being the cost of fees, the other, a lack of structural facilities in the various privately funded tertiary institutions, the third being that since they were taxpaying (themselves and their sponsors) as well as the engagement of grandaunts on the National Service Scheme warranted an intervention. Sound arguments I must say. When asked to suggest interventions, they forwarded that Government should partner the private investor in the physical development of these tertiary institutions, example building and stocking libraries, buses and hostels. Another suggestion was a subsidizing of fees by government as it is done for students in the private sector. After listening for about an hour, the sadness forced me to tune out. Not only were they not missing the point, but for once they had a platform to properly channel their grievance and they were failing to do so.

Here is my take on where government can and can’t assist in privately funded tertiary institutions. Unanimously, I doubt if anyone can argue that the European practice of making study loans available to all citizens should not apply in Ghana. This I perceive will solve to a large extent the case of Accessibility and Equity (funding resources). What I am suggesting simply is to open up the Student Loans Trust Fund to any student of Ghanaian Nationality who so wishes to access it for educational purposes. Currently the Student Loan, because it was initially being invested in by the Pension Scheme of SNNIT and to factor in the dollar fluctuation and market influences was set on a compound interest system. This makes repayment of the loans a bit problematic. The SLF to enable easy payment and sustainability should be tailored to suit an applicant. Where an applicant signs a bond for example, to work for only a government agency (first 5years post tertiary), he gets to pay the loan on a fixed interest system, whilst the applicant who signs a bond to work for the private sector could be placed on the compound interest system. To ensure equality, this suggestion should not factor in whether you are in a publicly or privately funded tertiary institution.

As far as the argument on National Service goes, I hope students and every Ghanaian is aware that our education is heavily subsidized. Government takes up the chunk of the cost of education, from basic to tertiary. The estimated ranges of support are 100% at the basic level (if you attend a publicly funded basic education institution); 70% at the Secondary level and 65% at the tertiary level. I therefore wish to ask the panelists and students in private tertiary institutions if government is not justified in demanding national service from them. Yes their parents paid taxes and yes some of them even still do, but I belief they have over enjoyed the said taxes. I am tempted to tell them to “shut up and suffer” as my volley coach in the University of Ghana used to say (Ozote I reference you for here oooh) but decorum won’t allow me to.

As I listened to the discussion, I heard the panelist suggestion the use of GETFund to assist private institutions in the provision of Buses, Hostels and other Teaching, Learning and Research infrastructures. At this point I wish to present Section 2 of the Act 581 also known as the Ghana Education Trust Fund Act, 2000.

(1) The object of the Fund is to provide finance to supplement the provision of education at all levels by the Government.

(2) For the purpose of attaining this object, the monies from the Fund are to be expended as follows:

(a) to provide financial support to the agencies and institutions under the Ministry of Education, through the Ministry, for the development and maintenance of essential academic facilities and infrastructure in public educational institutions, particularly, in tertiary institutions;

(b) to provide supplementary funding to the Scholarship Secretariat for the grant of scholarships to gifted but needy students for studies in second-cycle and accredited tertiary institutions in Ghana;

(c) to contribute monies from the Fund towards the operation of student loans schemes for students in accredited tertiary institutions through loan scheme mechanisms and agencies, approved by the Minister;

(d) to provide, through the National Council on Tertiary Education, grants to tertiary institutions,

(i) to train brilliant students as members of faculties;

(ii) to undertake research and other academic programmes of relevance to national development; and

(e) to provide monies to support such other educational activities and programmes for the promotion of education as the Minister in consultation with the Board may determine.

I believe the reader needs no further convincing why GETFund can’t and won’t be used to subsidize education in the private sector. This does not even factor in the inadequately developed publicly funded tertiary education institution. Even if we had the resources, legally we as a country could not. The other point is that, what if government invests in the ideas of a private entrepreneur helps in establishing the necessary tools for running a private tertiary education institution, only for the private investor to change their minds on the direction of investment. From Education to Hotel; on what grounds would government stand to demand recompense? And what if an ordinary farmer also wants this same government assistance in converting his cocoa farm into a cocoa processing factory?

One problem I have observed in the Ghanaian is that we are quick to point out the problems. We cry that our voices are not heard in the corridors of power (we have had coup d’états from such cries). When we are given platforms to make our voices heard, well we most often than not fail to say what really needs to be said. Knowing the problem is just 1/3^rd of the matter, coming up with realistic, implementable solutions is another 1/3^rd, implementing and sustaining the suggested and agreed on solutions is the last 1/3^rd.  I congratulate Radio Universe for providing a platform for such a discussion, I look forward to when the Ministry of Education and all stake holders will create a bigger, better platform for this discussion. I wish the students in the private sector well and advocate for all possible assistance to them, however it must be done within the confines of the law, taking into cognizance the resources available for National Development. Thank you.

Funding of Higher Education, Performance Budgeting or Line-Item Budgeting: Issues Arrising

I am an education enthusiast. To a fault I am an idealist, believing in the goodness of mankind. I am delusional in the belief that an educated mind will present and relate more with empiricism in the face of assumptions. Maybe its time I let go of these delusions and believes for I am in Africa now and reality check says I am dreaming. But then and again I have always been a stubborn mule (imagine that) and refuse to wake up. I will dream away and be lost in my beliefs.

This is the third in my series of regulating tertiary education in Ghana. I know I am not following any clear pattern. I will be faulted for not jumping from set-up, through governance and mandate regulations before jumping on the funding band wagon. But Hei, its money and who doesn’t love talking about it.

It is a fact that the most pressing issue of Higher Education in developing countries is that of funding. Left alone and without government restrictions, I am quite sure that most of Tertiary Education Institutions in Ghana would have managed to fund themselves adequately. However we have all witnessed what Educated Elitism can result it; Liberia (even though no one wants to admit to it: the Americo-Liberian and Indigenous Liberian situation), Rwanda and Burundi to mention a few. Yes the various coup d’états in Ghana have been politically driven, however we cannot dissociate the alienation of the then less educated Ghanaian from participation in governance and access to national resources of the country at that time as one of the leading factors. I digress again.

Recently I submitted an abstract to the up-coming Tertiary Education Managers Conference in Australia (September 2013). Though my abstract was not accepted for presentation, I am still thinking of completing the paper for a publication. My topic was on “BUDGETING TRENDS IN HIGHER EDUCATION IN GHANA, COMPARING PERFORMANCE (PROGRAMME) BUDGETING AND LINE-ITEM BUDGETING” I present excepts from my abstract below:

Governments are under pressure to evaluate their own performance. Information about public sector performance can satisfy the public’s need to know, and can be used to show that governments provide good value for money through their actions. Perhaps most important, performance information has the potential to help policy makers to make better budget and management decisions.

As countries develop and incomes begin to rise, public spending tends to shift towards infrastructure maintenance and social programs. The traditional Public Tertiary Education Institutions finance system in Ghana relied on block grant allocations to institutions.

Institutional development was therefore saddles with strict bottom-up budgeting approach, potential future fiscal risk, and operational inefficiency from managerial inflexibility often associated with traditional budgeting meant that innovation was stifled. In the periods following the 1966 coup to the 4th Republic in 1992, Tertiary institutions saw little if any marginal growth. Revolutionaries saddled with the problems of salvaging perceived and actual economic catastrophes, the Tertiary Institutions in Ghana were partially financed via the system of Block Grants. Following a return to democracy, policy makers recognized that Block Grants did not equip institutions to adequately respond to changing demographic profiles and their impact on spending, nor to the need for more intensive use of resources and greater accountability demanded in democratic societies. The challenge of providing tertiary education in Ghana today is not the same as that faced in past. Today the challenge is more in terms of strategic allocation of resources and equity of public spending, and greater efficiency in the use of public resources.

While there are many factors that influence government budgeting decisions, program performance is rapidly becoming a more significant factor. Knowing how well or poorly a program is performing based on a given budget helps resource managers make informed decisions about the allocation and reallocation of finite funds. The ability to make sound resource allocation decisions is increasingly important in a fiscally constrained environment.

Over the years, budgetary allocations and budgetary releases for Tertiary Education institutions have been on a trickle in basis, forcing most institutions to adopt Line-Item budgeting. It’s advantage of simplicity and attention to immediacy has kept Public Tertiary Institutions afloat for the past 30years if not more. In the face of this, evaluating and enforcing best practices amongst tertiary education institutions in Ghana is difficult as there is little if any holding power for the regulatory bodies (National Council for Tertiary Education, National Accreditation Board).

By tracking performance and expenditures of Tertiary Institutions, regulatory bodies can identify areas of challenged, sustained, or improved performance and make recommendations for increasing, decreasing, or maintaining resource levels. The integration of performance and budget also enables regulatory bodies to achieve set standards and norms targets for tertiary education. Thus, making informed choices in assigning resources to those areas that will optimize performance. While this integration process is a terrific managerial tool, the main benefit is that it provides the public with a clear and transparent means of seeing the fiscal stewardship practised by regulatory bodies of tertiary education.

My subsequent write up will seek a comparative analysis between Performance Budgeting and Line-Item Budgeting, in terms:

•           The impact of budgetary systems on Institutional Governance, Regulatory Bodies Coordination and Accountable responsibilities to stakeholders. The associated benefits of budgetary systems that have been adopted by the Ghana

•           Government for financing Tertiary Education, and their impact on innovation, research and development of Tertiary Education Institutions.

Kindly humor me. 

IS THERE DIVERSIFICATION AND DIFFERENTIATION IN GHANA’S EDUCATION??

Any discussion of diversity in higher and Tertiary Education would be incomplete without connecting the conversations to broader aims of the institutions. Universities are founded to pursue knowledge, provide knowledge to a select and willing populace (Students) within its community. In Ghana greater demands for and application of knowledge is touted to be the driving force for the expansion in the education sector.  Thus there is the need for more inclusive learning enrolment, where scholars and students develop and share their intellectual resources in more efficient and timely ways. Allen et al (2006) suggests that to attain diversity, educators need to assess continually the current landscape –success and challenges – as well as future possibilities for an educational institution. The caution here is that in order to forge a more effective tertiary institution, there is a need to model them on an inclusive learning community where policy settings that results in only short-term outcomes decoupled from holistic, long-term transformations are avoided.

The Stony Brook University emphatically point out that, in the development of programs, it would behove on the educator to first, develop an understanding of how different disciplines define, acquire, and organize knowledge; second, to enhance understanding of Ghanaian and non-Ghanaian cultures as well as their reciprocal influence on each other; third, to provide a basis for an examination of values; fourth, to develop analytic, synthetic, linguistic, computational, communication, and information-gathering skills useful for lifelong learning; and, finally, to provide a common foundation for wide-ranging dialogue with peers on issues of significance. Such considerations will encourage students to develop a critical and inquiring attitude, an appreciation of complexity and ambiguity, a tolerance for and empathy with persons and groups of different backgrounds or values, and a deepened sense of self. In short, the goal of the diversity in education is to prepare students to appreciate and be able to function effectively in an increasingly complex world.

Differentiated instruction is the backbone of good teaching. Although every child can benefit from this type of instruction, it is vital for students with learning disabilities. Differentiation can be done in both inclusive regular classrooms, collaborative classrooms, and special education classrooms. Appropriate instruction can ensure that a child is educated in the least restrictive environment necessary to implement her individual education program. Learn more about differentiated instruction.( Logsdon, 2008)

Differentiation happens in a heterogeneous classroom. In such a classroom, students are arranged according to the ability-appropriate assignments they receive at the end of the lesson. Theoretically, students even have some choice in the assignments they complete; they might select the assignment that appeals to their learning strengths and interests. In this best-of-all-worlds "differentiated" scenario, lower-ability students stand to benefit from learning sparks thrown off by higher-level students.(Fischer, 2004)

Having presented the reader with the above explanations on Diversification and Differentiation, I wonder if he/she can assertively identify any of its components in any of Ghana’s Educational Institutions.

World University Rankings: The African Performance.

The Education of a country in the 21st Century will greatly impact on the development of said country. Africa having metamorphosed from a colonial affiliate has progressed to quasi-democratic economies where capitalism rules and asset liquidation is the order.

Many times has this rich continent produced promising and liberation oriented persons. The National Geographic has several documentaries evidencing the role of the west (America and cronies) in assassinating, toppling or crippling (corrupting and sabotaging followers) of such persons. For Example, Patrice Lumumba, Muammar al-Gaddafi, Kwame Nkrumah, Oliver Tambo. It is a known fact that the unity of Africa will result in one strong continent capable of ruling the world. Given that this great continent has been subjected to several rules of tyranny and brutalities by the so called Western Powers, why would they not seek to ensure that it never unites? After all they have seen what African Revenge is like on an Africa-to-Africa correlation. Note I am no conspiracy theorist but some actions beg for questions and these questions need answering. But I digress. This piece is on Education and not Economic Politics

I chanced on the World University Rankings for 2012/2013. Africa is only represented by two countries South Africa and Egypt. I was a bit surprised after all in a recent publication, I was informed that Kumasi Polytechnic was well ranked internationally and top in Ghana, 3rd in Africa. Also I knew University of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology had good placements in the international rankings. Now just before you get ahead of yourself and jump on the "western world haters train" please note that all these rankings where Ghana or African Tertiary Education Institutions have placed appreciably are based on web presence. In practice then our universities are like pin-up gals who spend all day tweeting and facebooking just for popularity and not substance.

The Ranking Exercise undertaking by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings powered by Thomson Reuters are the only global university performance tables to judge world class universities across all of their core missions - teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook. The top universities rankings employ 13 carefully calibrated performance indicators to provide the most comprehensive and balanced comparisons available, which are trusted by students, academics, university leaders, industry and governments.

In a country where our average Tertiary Institutional publication is 20 per year (for reputable peer reviewed journals) and this even includes books one cannot fault such a ranking for not placing any Ghanaian Institution. Don’t get me wrong, Ghanaian Academicians of this era do publish, oh yes they do. The problem is they publish in Institutionally Self Established Journals. The articles are not subjected to stringent peer review. Editors for fear of being tagged “enemies of progress” allow shoddily put together articles to be published. KNUST has a term “2+1+3 Professor”.

In South Africa, the funding of a university is based on performance. In Ghana, the funding of a university is based on strike. Thus there is no correlation between funding needs and institutional mandates or performance.

If we as a country are to develop as we seek, we need to first of all have a properly coordinated educational setup. The United Kingdom, whom most Commonwealth Affiliates seek to emulate have retained the same educational structure for almost 500yrs however Ghana, has had several reforms and one Government White Paper which serves only as a reference material for academic writing rather than policy guide or practice guide. Performance Budgeting may be the way for Ghana and Africa as a whole. The Question is will the World Bank (USA BANK for Controlling Africa and Asia) allow the leaders of our country to engage such? I doubt it; for the strength of bank lies in its ability to engage paying borrowers. We may not be able to pay our debts, but we can always mortgage our resources after all batter trade is still valid.