Chancellor of Wisconsin International University College, Dr. Paul Kofi Fynn, has opposed the ministry of education’s push to mandate university charters, warning that enforcing such a policy could cripple private universities across Ghana.
“We don’t accept this idea of charter. We are hoping that the thing can be made optional. If you are ready, you go for it,” he stated.
Speaking during a visit by the Minister for Education, Honourable Haruna Iddrisu last Friday in Accra, the Chancellor Dr. Paul Kofi Fynn, described the charter as a “premature promotion” being forced on unprepared institutions and called for the policy to be made optional, arguing that most private universities lack the infrastructure, recognition, and financial capacity to survive under the new system.
“If you are not ready, you don’t go for it. But it should not be forced on the institutions. Once it is enforced on the institutions, then it becomes a problem.
Especially if the school is not ready. Many people now, especially the students and parents, they want their children to get their degrees from other Legons, Cape Coast, or Kumasi, or these public universities. And they will not accept degrees from most private universities” he stated
Again, in his engagement he clarified that a charter, unlike accreditation, is merely a form of institutional promotion and should not be imposed. “Charter is just a promotion, Accreditation is something that must happen continuously every day, every semester. But charter is once and for all. If I’m not ready for the promotion, why force it on me?” he stressed
Dr. Fynn noted that the government’s policy requiring private universities to obtain a charter operation fails to consider the unique challenges facing private institutions in Ghana.
According to him, the timing is wrong, and the policy could lead to massive student withdrawals, institutional downgrades, and even closures.
“So, the charter issue is not very well known.
So, if you do it, they reduce the number of students that you have. Because when people come here, they ask, are you charter? I say no, then they buy forms. Most of our schools, we are not getting money from the government or from anywhere What it is, is that we depend on the students’ fees to run the schools,” he explained.
The Chancellor warned that once a private university is chartered and begins awarding its own degrees, it could lose the credibility that comes with public university affiliation. “It’s like a baby being told to walk after three years it may not be ready,” he said.
