Investing in our nascent universities – A step in the right direction

 On Friday, May 23, 2025 The Ghanaian Times car­ried a front-page story titled: “Limited infrastructure our main concern…UTAS VC laments.”

The news story highlighted the urgent infrastructure chal­lenges facing the C.K. Tedem University of Technology and Applied Sciences (CKT-UTAS), established in 2019.

Among the issues raised was the serious lack of infrastructure, which continues to negatively impact academic work.

As a sequel to the front page story, the paper’s back page featured a story drawing attention to the stalling of three critical GETFund projects at the university: a four-storey student hostel, a four-storey laboratory complex, a lecture hall, and an office complex.

This situation reflects the broader challenges facing pub­lic-funded universities, particu­larly the newly established ones. Hardly a day goes by without media reports highlighting the difficulties of these institutions.

It was, therefore, encouraging when the Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, announced during the 5th congregation of CKT-UTAS that government has allocated GH¢40 million in seed funding to support four of these young universities.

The announcement, made at the very institution whose chal­lenges had just been spotlighted by The Ghanaian Times, brought a welcome relief.

More importantly, the gov­ernment’s decision to include three other universities alongside CKT-UTAS signals a holistic approach to addressing these concerns.

Over the past two decades, Ghana has made significant progress in expanding access to higher education through the creation of new universities.

However, this expansion has often outpaced adequate fund­ing, leaving many institutions struggling with poor infrastruc­ture, limited research capacity, and insufficient staffing.

By allocating this GH¢40 million, the government is taking a crucial step to close the development gap and invest in the long-term potential of these universities.

These institutions; C.K. Tedem University of Technology and Applied Sciences, University of Energy and Natural Resourc­es (UNER), University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS) and S.D. Dombo University of Busi­ness and Integrated Develop­ment Studies (SD-UBIDS) play an important role in advancing Ghana’s development goals.

Their geographical distribu­tion—in the Upper East, Volta, Bono, and Upper West regions, supports the country’s broader aim of regional equity and inclu­sive growth and supporting them helps decentralise development and reduce the urban-centric focus of public investment.

While we view this inter­vention as commendable, The Ghanaian Times believes it must be backed by strong account­ability measures. The universities must use the funds efficiently and transparently.

Strategic planning, proper procurement processes, and community involvement should guide how each of the GH¢10 million allocation is used, and the government, for its part, must ensure this is not a one-off initiative.

Sustained policy and finan­cial support will be essential to helping these institutions reach their full potential and contribute meaningfully to national devel­opment.

This seed funding represents more than just a monetary allocation as it symbolises belief in the transformative power of education.

Strengthening our public universities must not be seen as a policy choice, but as a national imperative as the country’s prog­ress depends on the minds we shape today for tomorrow’s lead­ership, innovation, and growth.