Competition for students among private universities in Kenya is intensifying, with institutions taking to both the electronic and print media to advertise programmes and display achievements. The private higher education sector is thriving, and now enrols 20% of all students.
Nigeria has 100 public and 30 private universities. A strike by lecturers has paralysed public institutions for the past three months, while teaching at private universities has continued. As a result, there has been a rush by parents with financial muscle to register their children in private universities, whose proprietors are smiling all the way to the bank.
African countries are still too focused on the state sector, and this hinders the private sector from contributing to alleviating poverty in the region, experts said during the IMF/World Bank meetings
In an era of private universities, those of the 61,000 left stranded, whose parents can afford it, would be admitted into private universities or sent abroad. Let say 10,000. And another 10,000 would find their way into the polytechnic system and other state tertiary institutions.
The public university education system in the country is at a crossroads. A combination of unending face-off between lecturers and government and the poor state of infrastructure has promised a bleak future for students. Their parents and guardians are weighed down by this development. Some who can afford it are already seriously considering sending their wards abroad to acquire university education.
The Minister of Interior, Dr Abba Moro, on Thursday advised operators of private universities to emulate the quality trends of Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti, in upholding global standards.
The President of the Ghana Baptist University College (GBUC), Rev. Dr Kojo Osei-Wusuh, has called on the government to seriously review the imposition of taxes on private universities to save some of the institutions from collapse.
The Ghana Baptist University College has held its eighth matriculation ceremony at Amakom, Kumasi, with a plea to government to give the private universities tax waivers.
The Anglican University College of Technology (ANGUTECH) has inaugurated its premier campus at Nkoranza in the Brong Ahafo Region to mark its operations. Inaugurating the campus at Nkoranza last Friday, the Archbishop of Internal Province of the Anglican Church of Ghana, Most Reverend (Rev.) Dr Daniel Yinkah Sarfo, called on the government to compliment the efforts of private universities by supporting them with infrastructural facilities and other necessary incentives as are being enjoyed by public tertiary institutions.