We’re moving towards 40% gross tertiary enrollment target – MoE

The country is heading towards its gross tertiary enrollment target ratio of 40 per cent by 2023, the Minister in Charge of Education and Member of Parliament for Bosomtwe Constituency, Honourable Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum has said.

Speaking at the 15th Congregation, 5th session, of the University for Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA), he said currently has a 20 per cent gross tertiary enrollment, an increment of 18 per cent in 2022, adding, “We were looking at getting to 30 per cent by 2025.”

In an interview monitored by Thisterm.com, the Minister of Education, Yaw Adutwum attributed the 20 per cent tertiary enrollment growth to the implementation of the Free Senior High School (Free SHS) introduced in September 2017.

Speaking on PeaceFM’s Kokrokoo show, the Education Minister said the country’s gross tertiary enrollment ratio previously was at a standstill at 16 per cent but amid the popular free secondary education initiative it has skyrocketed.

“It is expected for a developing country to have at least 40 per cent of gross tertiary enrollment ratio. It is just last year that Free SHS increased ours to 20 per cent, South Korea is currently 96 per cent,” Dr Yaw Adutwum told Peace FM.

The Education Minister indicated it is for this good reason that President Nana Akufo-Addo introduced the Free Senior High School (Free SHS) policy to ensure candidates who pass the BECE continue their secondary education at no cost.

“We now have about eight years to reach that target, when Ghana’s tertiary ratio increases then we will be like the country Marituas, the country will develop and we will have more engineers,” Honourable Adutwum explained.

His comment comes after President Akufo-Addo following the NPP government’s implementation of the Free SHS policy said the country by the year 2030 will see a 40 per cent increase in enrollment of students in tertiary education.

His Excellency said focusing on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) related fields, with emphasis on engineering, could increase the enrollment ratio from the current 18.8 per cent to 40 per cent by 2030.

Akufo-Addo indicated his government would continue with the development of 20 Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics centres and eight model Science Senior High schools to advance STEM education in the country.

This he said would be achieved by significantly increasing enrollment in existing public and private universities and through the establishment of an “Open University” the government expected to increase record numbers of enrollment over the next four years.