The Ministry of Education has directed all councils of tertiary institutions not to increase their fees and charges until their requests are processed and approved by Parliament.
This was made known in a statement signed by the Education Minister, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh and copied to the Ministry of Finance and all other relevant stakeholders.
In 2017, the Ministry of Education received a proposal from public universities asking for an increment in fees and charges.
“As you may recall, in 2017, the Ministry of Education received proposals from the Public Universities for an upward adjustment in their fees and charges”
The proposal was forwarded to the Ministry of Finance to be submitted to parliament to be considered as part of the 2018 budget.
The Ministry of Finance has stated that it is currently working on the requests as part of the budget preparation for 2019 fiscal year.
“The Ministry of Finance has indicated in a letter dated 24th May 2018 that it is currently processing the request as part of the budget preparation for 2019 fiscal year. All Councils of Tertiary Institutions have been advised not to increase fees and charges until the process is complete and approval is given by parliament” the Ministry’s statement said.
Each year, public universities increase fees based on prevailing inflation rate plus 2%
In 2017, the University Students Association of Ghana (USAG) called on all students of public tertiary institutions not to pay the increased fees for the 2017/2018 academic year until Parliament approves the increase.
The President of the association, Emmanuel Kwarteng Frimpong, told Citi News that the current fees are already too exorbitant.
“Until Parliament goes through the fees, gives the breakdown and approves for students, we should withhold payment, just in fulfillment of the constitutional provisions (Fees and Charges Act 793),” he stated.
The Member of Parliament for the Bawku Central constituency, Mahama Ayariga, also threatened to take the matter to court if public universities fail to seek Parliamentary approval for the fees they charge.
Source: citinewsroom.com
