The Ministry of Education has asked tertiary institutions to stop exploiting the desperation of students by selling far more admission forms than the number they can admit.
It said it was an unacceptable practice where for instance, a university knew it could admit only 2,000 students at a time but sold over 10,000 admission forms because students were desperate to secure admission.
In an interview in Accra, the Minister of State in Charge of Tertiary Education, Prof. Kwesi Yankah, noted that the sale of admission forms, ordinarily, was supposed to be a token to cover the cost of stationery. He, therefore, proposed that the way out could be that the cost of admission forms would be levied on only students who finally got admitted.
Prof. Yankah also expressed concern that apart from selling more admission forms than the number of students the universities could admit, they also resorted to annual increases in the cost of the admission forms.
Cost of admission forms
The public universities have increased the sale of admission forms for undergraduate and diploma courses for the 2018/2019 academic year as prospective applicants struggle to raise funds to pursue tertiary education.
Currently, the University of Ghana’s undergraduate admissions for the 2018/19 academic year online application e-voucher is being sold at GH¢200, also an 18 per cent increase on the previous year’s cost of GH¢180, while the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), which sold its admission form at GH¢170 last year, is selling it at GH¢180 this year.
The University of Cape Coast is, however, selling its scratch card for the 2018/19 admission of applicants into its undergraduate, diploma and certificate programmes at GH¢220 same as was sold in 2017/2018.
Prof. Yankah said the situation was even more serious considering the fact that majority of the prospective candidates bought admission forms of all the public universities in the hope that if they missed out in one university, they could secure admission in the other.
Maintain cost of forms He has, meanwhile, directed all public universities to revert to the selling price for last academic year’s admission forms pending a meeting to be held between the management of the universities and the ministry.
Private universities With respect to the private universities, Prof. Yankah urged the managers to take advantage of the goodwill of the government in the education sector to charge moderate fees.
He asked the private universities to bear in mind that it was for good reason that the government waived the 25 per cent corporate tax slapped on them.
Prof. Yankah explained that the idea was to lessen the burden on the private universities to enable them to exercise moderation in charging fees.
He said the scrapping of the 25 per cent tax was to enable the private universities to use their surpluses to expand their frontiers in the areas of libraries and scholarships.
Source: Daily Graphic
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Why is there even a charge for application forms??? application forms can be put online and downloaded and printed by those applying. It is down right stealing from the general public and it should be outlawed by those in power. If any government continues to allow this practice they are just as guilty as those collecting this money. WHAT A BIG SHAME
So you didn't think about this all the years you were a Pro-VC in Legon. Its all about the political capital isn't it?
ITS OPERATION IS EASY. CANDIDATES COPY/FILL FORMS ONLINE AND THEN SEND. ITS GOOD FOR THE POOR. I KNOW MINISTRY OF EDUCATION IS ALSO DESIGNING A SINGLE APPLICATION FORM FOR ALL THE UNIVERSITIES. NPP IS DOING WELL. THEY ARE FOR THE COMMON MAN.
KUDOS PROF. THE UNIVERSITIES HAVE CHEATED APPLICANTS FOR LONG. WE APPLY TO UNIVERSITIES ABROAD ONLINE WITHOUT PAYING A PENNY. THOSE WHO QUALIFY MUST BE MADE TO PAY. UNIVERSITY AUTHORITIES MUST BE MADE TO FALL IN LINE WITH NATIONAL NORMS AND STOP BEHAVING AS IF THEY ARE INSULATED FROM THE LAWS OF THE LAND. I HOPE PROF WILL CONTINUE TO SANITIZE THEIR OPERATIONS IN TERMS OF ADMISSIONS, ADMINISTRATION AND ACADEMIC ACTIVITIES. LECTURERS FRUSTRATE STUDENTS TO THE EXTENT THAT MANY POTENTIAL GRADUATES HAD TO ABANDON THEIR COURSES DUE TO LECTURERS INTRANSIGENCE. ELSEWHERE IT IS EASY TO GO THROUGH COURSES WITHOUT COMPROMISING QUALITY. WE AGAIN HAVE TO CRITICALLY EXAMINE THE POLICY OF FEE PAYING FOR WHICH THE UNIVERSITIES ARE USING TO EXTORT MONEY FROM BRILLIANT BUT NEEDY STUDENTS. THEIR INTEREST IN FEE PAYING FAR SUPERSEDE THE REGULAR STREAMS. I SUPPORT PROF AND ENCOURAGE HIM TO INTRODUCE MORE REFORMS IN OUR PUBLIC/PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES. THEY ARE SKEWED MORE TOWARDS SELF PROFIT MOTIVE THAN THEIR CORE MANDATE. THEY MUST BE MADE TO CONFORM. I WISH I MEET PROF ONE ON ONE TO THANK HIM.
why should a successful applicant be made to pay for the forms of an unsuccessful applicant. or how will the universities cover the cost of the forms for those who were unsuccessful? or the admission process should be made first come first admitted? there is no need to be populist in this prof,sale of university admission forms are not unique to Ghana in the world. Canadian, Norwegian, and many universities around the globe charge often in excess of $100 for online admission forms. as many as those who feel their qualified should be given that opportunity to apply at no cost to the university, its that simple.
the headline is a little bit deceptive bcos he made a proposal and its the same proposal I always had. however, the universities also used that generate internal funds to run their business since their main sponsor (govt) is not reliable. So the best way is for govt to be up to its responsibilities with the universities. this proposal will not benefit the universities, so u might want to come up with another proposal that will benefit both parties.
THIS IS WHAT THE PROF IS PROPOSING: CANDIDATES WILL APPLY ONLINE THROUGH A FREE LINK. THOSE WHO EVENTUALLY GET ADMISSION ARE THEN MADE TO PAY ADMISSION FEE...PURE AND SIMPLE.
Good job Prof. Yankah Ghana is working again. Now the poor people have a big relief. Thank you
how is that possible
GOD BLESS YOU ALL