The Ghana Minister of State for Tertiary Education, Professor Kwesi Yankah, is on a study visit in London this week with a delegation. The trip is part of a review of university admissions in the country. The existing system requires potential students to submit a separate application for each university place they are interested in pursuing and consequently many capable students are left without a place. Professor Yankah and the delegation are pursuing a system that will provide fair and open access for all students and improve efficiency, transparency and will mean families will be relieved from the burden of multiple application fees.
The meetings, convened by the British Council, will see the delegation meet with UCAS, the UK’s university admission system. UCAS is a central point of access with clear deadlines for student admissions. It provides efficiencies and benefits to UK universities including planning student places, revising prospectuses for courses, and helping universities internationalise their intake. It has a 100 per cent placement success rate.
This visit to UK will be followed by a visit to Nigeria where they have a system known as JAMB – Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board. Ghana is looking at several models including UK and Nigeria to find a solution that works for Ghana.
Besides UCAS, the delegation will also meet Universities UK and some end user universities including; University of Reading, University of Exeter, Royal Holloway University of London, Kings College London and Queen Mary University of London.
It is hoped a new system in Ghana would provide more transparency and bring greater opportunities to internationalise. By providing a window for all institutions it is hoped more students will find a course that suits them and that institutions will be matched to the next generation of young talent.