The Minister for Education, Haruna Iddrisu, has hinted at plans to amend the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) Act (Act 1023), to extend the deadline for tertiary institutions to acquire a Presidential Charter.
He disclosed this when he appeared before the Public Accounts Committee on Monday, November 3, 2025.
The Minister said the government is reviewing the policy to avoid shutting down universities that serve thousands of Ghanaian students.
GTEC had in February 2024 gave a six-month ultimatum to all universities to get chartered or face possible closure.
But the Minister opined that applying the law too rigidly could deny many qualified Ghanaians access to higher education.
“Government is reviewing that position and there may be a policy review of it to extend the moratorium but certainly not to put in that not every qualified Ghanaian student has the opportunity to be admitted into a public tertiary institution,” he said.
“They will be in denial if we were to be high-handed in terms of the regulation, but that’s what the law requires them to do. So I may seek a review of the law in order that we extend the period of the charter and then learn from best practice — what happens in Australia, what happens in the US or UK — how are those private institutions able to cope with the public tertiary institutions,” he told the Committee.
He stressed that GTEC is working within the confines of the law, however, the matter is being carefully reviewed.
“Chairman, this matter is being thoroughly looked at. The Director-General of GTEC is acting in accordance with his mandate and the law, and recognises that whoever is affected by it will be pronounced as he is doing. I’m awaiting a report from the GTEC Council for a briefing. Then I’ll come back to this House if you so desire,” he explained.
He further posited that young people are currently pursuing higher education, a trend he described as positive.
“The joy is that in Ghana, more Ghanaian students of that age are accessing higher education, and that’s good for our country,” he said.
He added that some of the private and faith-based universities are facing financial and operational challenges, making it difficult for them meeting the charter requirements.
“If, for instance, you are providing higher education in biology and you don’t have a laboratory or chemistry or physics, then GTEC is not likely to support you to undertake that activity,” he said.
“So, in the law which was passed by Parliament, apart from the students who will be affected, there are also Ghanaians in the private sector many of them church-related institutions, whether it’s the Catholic Church, the Pentecostal Church, or the Presbyterian Church, providing higher education, but not to perpetuate it. It won’t be forever and ever.
But at least let’s give them some time, because the challenge is, how many students are there with a public tertiary education?”
“Standards will not be compromised, but I think that we should allow them time and space to justify their expenditure and the training they are providing,” he added.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
