The University of Ghana’s administration has provided an update on its most recent meeting with the Parliament Select Committee over its fees and charges for 2022–2023.
Based on rates agreed by Parliament and announced through the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission, the University of Ghana adjusted Academic Facility User Fees for the 2022–2023 academic year (GTEC).
For the academic years 2019–2020, 2020–2021, and 2021–2022, the university has previously charged students subsidized fees rather than the authorized rates.
The reason for the initial usage of subsidized fees was that University Administration chose to postpone the implementation of the new costs until the 2020–2021 academic year during the 2019–2020 academic year. This was done to protect students against a fee hike throughout the academic year.
Due to the issues brought on by the COVID-19 outbreak in March 2020, management agreed to another request from the student leadership to delay the implementation of the parliamentary approved and gazetted fees until the 2021–2022 academic year.
Even yet, there have been claims that the university overcharged for the 2022–2023 academic year.
On January 16, 2023, the University’s Governing Council convened to discuss the situation and the Honorable Minister of Education’s request for a 15% rise in fees that had been granted by Parliament.
By charging the permitted 15% increase in fees over the fees approved by Parliament, Council found that UG had in fact already complied with the Fees and Charges Act, 2022 (Act 1080).
Also, on February 9, 2023, the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC), the Ministry of Education, officials from UG Management and UG student leaders, the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS), and the Parliamentary Select Committee on Education met to discuss the issue.
The Parliamentary Select Committee determined at the meeting that UG had in fact complied with Act 1080 and that the claims of collecting unlawful fees for the 2022–2023 academic year were untrue after hearing from all sides.
Since then, the University has received official confirmation from the Parliamentary Select Committee that the undergraduate tuition prices for the 2022–2023 academic year are legitimate and based on the amount set by Parliament.
The Select Committee urged UG to take into account offering a fee reduction for the current academic year in order to ease the burden on students, and this recommendation would as a result be brought to the University Council’s attention for consideration.
SOURCE: GHANA EDUCATION
