Making Commitment Concrete: Policy and Practice in Access to HE in Ghana

In this chapter, we examine the challenges facing the sector in its drive to increase access The gross enrolment ratio (GER) for higher education (HE) in Ghana is currently around 12 per cent (UNESCO, 2014). This is far below the GER for advanced countries. Since the 2000s, there has been a big drive to increase enrolment in HE in Ghana. The National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE), the body charged with advising on the development of tertiary education (which includes HE) in Ghana, has set a target GER of 25 per cent for the sector (NCTE, 2013). It appears also that in the midst of the drive towards increasing total enrolments, there have also been concerns about giving equal opportunities for under-represented groups. Such groups include older, mature student entrants as well as those who would otherwise not be able to afford to enter HE. In addition, the issues of rurality, gender inequality and the quality of HE offered loom large in Ghana, and these issues are explored in detail here.