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0 The Director-General of the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission, G-TEC, Prof Ahmed Abdulai Jinapor, has said the time has come for various stakeholders, especially community leaders, to contribute their part in financing education.
According to him, the government alone cannot finance the sector.
“Government alone cannot finance tertiary education and we, [G-TEC], believe that the time has come for various stakeholders, especially community leaders, to also contribute their part when it comes to the financing of education”, Director-General of G-TEC.
Prof Jinapor said this when he led a five-member delegation to the seat of the Gonja Kingdom to formally communicate the absorption of the Savannah College of Education to the overlord of the area, Yagbonwura Bii-kunuto Jewu Soale I in Damongo in the Savannah Region.
He said the delegation embarked on the mission at the instance of President John Dramani Mahama and the Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, to reciprocate the visit of Yagbonwura’s delegation to the Jubilee House for the absorption of the College.
The Director-General also commended the Gonja Traditional Council (GTC) for their efforts adding that, “the college started as an institution owned by GTC, the first of its kind where you have the traditional Council pulling their resources together and putting in place such a facility for it to serve the youth”, he stated.
He indicated that the current number of forty-seven (47) public colleges of education, which he said is quite a huge number, will give the Ghanaian populace options.
The Yagbonwura, on his part, expressed gratitude to the government for the prompt response on the absorption and appealed to the president to consider locating similar tertiary facilities in the region to enhance development.
At the Wasipequra Palace in Daboya in North Gonja, Prof Ahmed Jinapor stated that government through G-TEC will do its best to help position the college because it is, “worthy of emulation in the sense that it’s not enough to absorb the school, it’s the first step and the easiest but positioning it within the spectrum of tertiary education delivery is something we have to look at”, he indicated.
He promised to ensure work on a fence wall for the college and the provision of a pick-up vehicle.
Wasipewura Mumuni Snysnme Kabsagy applauded the government and appealed to G-TEC for the provision of logistics such as lecture halls, a school bus, an administration block, and residential and hostel facilities.
The Director-General later moved to the college where he held closed-door meetings with the management and tutors on the current status of the institution, after which he addressed the students on the way forward.
According to him, students of SAVCoE will, from now on, start to enjoy all the facilities and privileges that other public colleges benefit from.
He tasked students to up their game, stating, “Once you have been absorbed as the saying goes, to whom much is given, much is expected. And so, you need to live up to the standard of a public institution.
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