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. 

REGULATING TERTIARY EDUCATION IN GHANA: REGULATORY BODIES AND THEIR MANDATES

Developing countries are saddled with the daunting task of determining the “working method” to extricate them from the quagmire of underdevelopment, navigating the maze of international trade and partnership. Over the years, the trial and error method has been expended in most African countries. Ghana is no exception and I am sure we lost the map of the maze somewhere in the early 90’s as we tried to navigate the waters of economic reforms.

Several education reforms have been enacted as part of efforts to equip Ghana with the requisite labour force to drive, manage and ensure development. Ghana’s Tertiary Education system operates a quasi-government-controlled system. This relationship is mostly evident in funding of the Tertiary Education Institutions. The Bologna Institution had educated the world that a “university” however it is defined, if left without regulation may become the atomic bomb that destroyed the society which invented it. This power of institutions is evident in the role of Tertiary Education Institutions in the various coup d’états of Ghana. As aptly presented by Effah (2010), for the most part, African Universities are government institutions and fully supported financially. It is on fair in this regard that developments that have implications for funding are reviewed with government. Before you jump on the band wagon of the “autonomy” it will interest you that Ghana runs the Bicameral System of Tertiary Education Governance. There is understandable autonomy in the determination of programs and the award of certificates. The set-up of regulatory bodies in Ghana therefore was to satisfy one major condition. That is, to ensure that national priorities receive attention. Effah (2010) points out that the more fragile a government (regime) the more intrusive they show interest in happenings in Tertiary Education Institutions. After all he who pays the piper determines the music.

This piece is the first in a series through which I will seek to review regulation in Tertiary Education in Ghana, the Role of the Government in Power, the perceived autonomy of institutions and regulatory arms, the problems and directions affecting policy development and growth in Tertiary Education in Ghana.

This first piece will present you with the regulatory framework of Ghana’s Tertiary Education. There are three separate bodies in tertiary education which perform the functions set out by the enabling acts that created them. There is the National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE) which is fundamentally the policy and development-direction provider for tertiary education in Ghana. There is also the National Accreditation Board (NAB), fundamentally responsible for quality assurance and the third body is the National Board for Professional and Technician Examinations (NABPTEX) with the responsibility of formulation and administration of schemes of examinations. Over the course of the series, each body will be critically assessed and analyzed. Hopefully by the end of this series my readers may understand the Tertiary Education Landscape of Ghana better. For now, let us contend with the summary review of the acts that set up the NCTE, the NAB and NABPTEX.

Legal Mandate and Functions of NCTE

The 1992 Constitution of Ghana mandates the establishment of a number of bodies, one of them being the National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE), which was established by an Act of Parliament, Act 454 of 1993. Its predecessor, the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) was established in 1962 and dissolved twice in 1966 and 1986 after changes of Governments.

The NCTE Act 454 of 1993 specifically enjoins the Council:

-          To advise the Minister on the development of institutions of tertiary education in Ghana;

-          To enquire into the financial needs of the institutions of tertiary education, and advise the Minister accordingly;

-          To recommend to the Minister for purposes of the preparation of the annual national education budgets:

o    block allocations of funds towards running costs; and

o   grants towards capital; expenditure of each institution of tertiary education indicating how the allocations are to be disbursed;

-          To recommend national standards and norms including standards and norms on staff, costs, accommodation and time utilization, for approval of the Minister and to monitor the implementation of any approved national standards and norms by the institutions;

-          To advise governing councils of institutions of tertiary education on suitable measures for generating additional funds for their institutions;

-          To publish information on tertiary education in Ghana;

-          To perform any other functions provided in the Act and such other functions relating to tertiary education as are incidental to the functions specified in the Act.

The National Council for Tertiary Education is devoted to providing leadership in the direction, functions, role and relevance of tertiary education in Ghana. To this end the NCTE delivers objective and carefully considered advice to Government, which contributes to the creation of conditions and structures that will support the establishment of a vibrant and dynamic sub-sector.

The NCTE is guided by the needs and priorities of tertiary education institutions which it serves, providing them with reliable information, appropriately targeted resource support and exposing them to global best practices.  Also it ensures that tertiary education assumes its rightful role as a catalyst and resource base for national growth and prosperity. Thus, it provides guidance and advice to drive the development of world-class skills and standards in teaching, research and administration.

The NCTE also plays a strategic mediatory role between the differing priorities of stakeholders (Government, tertiary institutions, teachers, students, civil society, and industry/business).

Legal Mandate and Functions of NABTEX

The Government white paper on the Reforms to the Tertiary Education System that was published in 1991 made several proposals for the restructuring and reorganization of Tertiary Education and Tertiary Educational Institutions. The proposals included, among others, the establishment of a Board of Accreditation to contribute to the “furtherance of better management of tertiary education” as the Quality Assurance body at the tertiary education level. The National Accreditation Board was established by the Government of Ghana in 1993 with the enactment of PNDCL 317, 1993; which has since been replaced by the National Accreditation Board Act, 2007, Act 744.

The birth of the National Accreditation Board as a regulatory agency of the Ministry of Education therefore is to ensure that the country’s tertiary education system continues to be responsive to a fast changing world and to make its graduates progressively competitive in the world of work. Over the past 19years has dedicated itself to facilitating the establishment of both public and private tertiary institutions and ensuring that set standards are maintained. The Board has accredited several institutions that are offering a variety of quality academic programmes for the benefit of students in Ghana.

According to Act 744, the Board is mandated to:

·         Accredit both public and private (tertiary) institutions with regard to the contents    and standards of their programmes.

·         Determine, in consultation with the appropriate institution or body, the programme and requirements for the proper operation of that institution and the maintenance of acceptable levels of academic or professional standards;

·         Determine the equivalences of diplomas, certificates and other qualifications awarded by institutions in Ghana or elsewhere.

·         Publish as it considers appropriate the list of accredited public and private institutions at the beginning of the calendar year.

·         Advise the President on the grant of a Charter to a private tertiary institution.

·         Perform any other functions determined by the Minister.

Legal Mandate and Functions of NABTEX

NABPTEX like its sister supervisory bodies is established by an Act of Parliament (1994, ACT 492). The Board is responsible for formulating and administering schemes of evaluation, assessment, certification and standards for:

o   skill competence;

o   syllabus competence

for non-university tertiary institutions, professional bodies and private institutions with accreditation by the National Accreditation Board established under the National Accreditation Board Act, 2007 (ACT 744).

NABPTEX by its legal mandate provides administrative and structural facilities and expertise for the organisation and conduct of professional and technician examinations; and in consultation with the relevant polytechnics and professional institutions conduct examinations and award national certificates and diplomas based on the result of the examinations. The Board therefore, at the request of government or any other body, conducts examinations as requested. The board is also responsible for the review of syllabuses for general curriculum enrichment as well as the appointment of examiners and moderators and determine methods for the proper conduct of examinations.

The board also makes regulations to govern its examinations and awards. It also devises schemes for testing skills for competence and aptitude testing. To this end, NABPTEX is mandated to provide such guidance and counselling services as would be needed by non-university tertiary institutions. The Sector Minister may also empower them to perform any ancillary functions