Private Universities Induct New Chairman

The Conference of Heads of Private Universities in Ghana (CHPUG), has held a meeting to induct its new chairperson. The President of Central University College, Prof. Kwesi Yankah, who contested the position unopposed, took over from the Vice Chancellor of the Catholic University of Ghana, Prof. James Hawkins Ephraim. CHPUG, which formerly selected its chairperson using the alphabetical order of the names of the institutions, changed that method of selection as its membership increased. This was done to give all the representatives an opportunity to occupy the position. Members of the conference are currently seeking the needed support from the government to enable private universities to have access to similar facilities being used by public universities, to enhance quality education, service delivery and also to adequately equip the graduates for the job market. The conference is also discussing ways of addressing the misconception of exploitation, unaffordable fees, and inferior educational standards that are sometimes leveled against private universities. The new chairperson urged members of the conference to help address these misconceptions through public education and market the rich resources of their students. He said his three-year tenure would see a heightened collaboration between members and regulatory public institutions, including the National Accreditation Board and the National Council on Tertiary Education (NCTE), to enhance their operations. The Minister of Education, Prof. Jane Naana Opoku Agyeman, who was the guest of honour, commended the conference for organising the forum which provided them an opportunity to share ideas and urged members to continuously offer the best of education to their students to adequately equip and give them employment and entrepreneurial opportunities. In a keynote address read on his behalf, the Principal of the Methodist University College, Rev. Prof. Samuel K. Adjepong, appealed to the government to partner members of the conference in their areas of operations. The immediate past Chairperson of CHPUG, Prof. James Hawkins Ephraim, called on members to work towards obtaining the charter that will enable them to award their own degrees.