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Only 21 percent of Ghanaian children who enroll at the basic level in the country get to enter tertiary institutions.

This is because there are only 250,000 slots for over 5 million students who start school at the basic level. 

This was revealed by a Deputy Education Minister, Samuel Okudjeto Ablakwa at the inauguration of the University of Ghana Distance education ICT project in Accra.

Speaking after inaugurating the project, the Deputy Minister observed that Ghana currently has a pyramid with a huge base; a situation which needs immediate attention.

He explained the nature of the pyramid stating that the nation has 5.4 million children studying at the basic level but only 840,000 manage to get to the second cycle level of education.

Subsequently, only 250,000 proceed to pursue their education at the tertiary level.

According to him, the number 250,000 is the only available space existing in both public and private tertiary institutions.

“The space available in the public and private universities, the 38 public colleges of education six private colleges of education, 10 polytechnics and the specialized tertiary institutions, all of them can guarantee space for 250,000 which is not enough,” he complained.

Okudzeto Ablakwa was hopeful that with the injection of ICT enabled learning, the various tertiary education institutions can now increase their intake without compromising the quality of education.

“Now with this investment in distance learning education, the opportunities are limitless,” he said.

Government has began the construction of the first batch of 200 day community high schools across the country to expand and improve access for as many students as possible to attain senior high school education.

The President explained that his government was taking the initiative because “existing secondary schools have a capacity to absorb only 60% of the students who qualify from Junior High School. Because of the high demand for secondary education, existing schools have been compelled to admit much higher than they were designed to accommodate.”

Two universities have also been constructed by the government and are currently admitting students to pursue various degrees.