Mr Tony Oteng-Gyasi, Managing Director (MD) of
Tropical Cable and Conductor Limited (TCCL), has called on corporate Ghana "to go beyond the complaints about the quality of graduates" and initiate moves to improve the educational system.
He said corporate Ghana, which was a direct beneficiary of tertiary education should take the lead in changing the dynamics of funding
university education in the country.
Mr Oteng-Gyasi said such a move would justify and allow the country to insist on the adoption of pragmatic business practices in university management.
The MD of TCCL, who is also the immediate past Chairman of the Governing Council of the University of Ghana (UG), made the call during the
launch of the Tropical Saint Anthony Foundation (TSAF), an organization set up by TCCL to offer scholarships to mostly needy science-based UG students in Accra on Wednesday.
The TSAF is currently run by a four-member Board of Trustees comprising Mr Oteng-Gyasi, as Chairman, and Professor Clifford Nii Boi Tagoe, immediate past Vice-Chancellor of UG, Mr Alfred Teddy Konu, immediate past Registrar of UG and Mr Prince Kofi Amoabeng, Chief Executive Officer of UT Bank as members.
He said "education at tertiary level should no longer be a burden on central government and the public purse" adding "at the same time, students from low income families should not be excluded from tertiary education", the reason TCCL embarked on the project.
He said TSAF would deviate from the traditional norm where scholarships were awarded to only "needy but brilliant students" and rather consider needy students who had been offered admission to study at UG.
"It is our considered view that a needy student is usually so disadvantaged that insisting on brilliance from such a student as a
precondition for financial assistance may be asking for too much" Mr Oteng-Gyasi explained.
He said TCCL had deposited into the TSAF GHc100,000.00 with an independent fund manager for investment to generate more interest to ensure
TSAF sustenance.
For starters, 10 students from deprived schools in each of the regions have been awarded full scholarships covering their academic facility user fees and residential facility user fees for their entire period of study at the UG.
Mr Oteng-Gyasi said "as the fund grows, we intend to extend the scholarships to students of other universities in Ghana".
Professor Alex Kwapong, first Ghanaian Vice-Chancellor of UG, who was the Guest Speaker, said although substantial progress had been made in providing access to higher education in the country, a great deal was required to be done.
He said despite support from public sector, loan schemes and grants from other sources, there was still more room for improvement and called on
private philanthropists to help increase effective access to higher education.
Prof Kwapong said a number of qualified students who received admissions annually failed to enroll because of financial constraints.
He described the launch of TSAF as an important landmark in the history of UG and commended TCCL and Board of Trustees of TSAF for their "clarity of vision and thoughtful initiative in bringing the Foundation to fruition".
Prof. Kwapong said "We should all appreciate the true significance of this Foundation as a pace-setter, worthy of emulation by other corporate and individual benefactors and philanthropists in this country" he said.
Prof Ernest Aryeetey, Vice-Chancellor of the UG, called on philanthropists to support tertiary education.
He commended TCCL for the initiative, saying it would go a long way to deal with the problems of needy students in the country.
Ms Elizabeth Otuteye, a beneficiary student, who is reading Bachelor of Arts in Sociology, Linguistics and Swahili, pledged on behalf of her
colleagues to work hard to justify the objectives of the award.
She is a former student of Ada Secondary and Technical School.