As most of the universities and university colleges across Ghana approached closure of their admissions register for Jan 2016 session, they are still busy counting their losses due to sudden downfall in their fresh student numbers after fruitful years since 2013. Throughout the country university council and administrative staffs were busy in formulating strategic plans to increase upon the student enrolments and reduce the expenses to sustain this downfall, they were further shaken by a statement from Head of State of one of the country, which contributes towards a majority share of foreign student population in Ghana.
H.E. President of the Republic of Nigeria, Hon. Muhammudu Buhari made his position clear on forex allocation for school fees of Nigerian students studying abroad. As per the President, Nigeria cannot afford to sell forex to parents seeking to fund their children's education abroad. This means that Nigerians will not be able to purchase forex from banks in Nigeria to pay for their studies abroad.
Below are some of the statistics which would allow us to understand the gravity of this decision.
Top 10 countries for Nigerian Students to Study Abroad (as per a study conducted by UNESCO in 2012:
Rank
|
Countries with highest Nigerian student population
|
Student Population (2012)
|
1
|
United Kingdom
|
17,542
|
2
|
United States of America
|
7,318
|
3
|
Ghana
|
6,113
|
4
|
Malaysia
|
4,442
|
5
|
Canada
|
2,031
|
6
|
South Africa
|
1,906
|
7
|
Saudi Arabia
|
1,622
|
8
|
United Arab Emirates
|
1,249
|
9
|
Finland
|
939
|
10
|
Russian Federation
|
736
|
After studies conducted by Nigerian authorities on state of their students studying abroad in 2014, and subsequent reports published in various Nigerian newspapers, it was revealed that the number of students opting for foreign undergraduate and postgraduate education were on rise since a decade. As per WENR (World Education News & Reviews http://wenr.wes.org) From 2008 to 2012, the number of Nigerian students studying overseas at the tertiary level grew 98 percent. Figures in the above table does not make a significant impact on the Ghanaian university population, but facts presented after 2014 survey revealed a different story.
As per multiple reports published in Nigerian newspapers and also commented by various government authorities, Nigerians spend $2billion annually on education abroad. This was stated just recently in a report, published in Vanguard on 10th February 2016, by The Chairman Senate Committee on Tertiary Institution and Tertiary Education Trust Fund, TETFund, Senator Binta Masi.
A similar data was also revealed in a report titled” Missing Links, report on the implementation of the Fiscal Responsibility Act in the 2013 financial year” by Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), Nigeria. (Source: http://www.dailytrust.com.ng)
Focussing ourselves back to its relevance for Ghana, let’s look at the table below:
Share of Nigerian Student’s fund to various countries:
Country Name
|
Student Population
|
Share of Student’s fund
|
Year
|
United Kingdom
|
17,542
|
N80 billion
|
Average of 2010 - 2014
|
Ghana
|
75,000
|
N160 billion
|
2014
|
Source: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/10/why-nigerian-students-patronise-foreign-schools/
In 2014, about 75,000 Nigerians were said to be studying in Ghana, paying about US$1 billion annually as tuition fees and upkeep. This spend is almost double the spent for studies in United Kingdom by Nigerians. This was made possible due to the proliferation of United States and United Kingdom university branch campuses in Ghana and South Africa, Nigerian students see these countries as best alternatives. This rise in the numbers were also due to the fact that authorities in the two West African countries agreed to implement the Arusha Convention on recognition of higher education qualifications in Africa, with a view to improving the portability of degrees and tackling problems in many private universities in Ghana, where Nigerian enrolments are on the rise.
If we doubt on the figures above, it can be accepted by another assumption that every year about 1.5 million school leavers sit for compulsory entrance examinations into 150 public and private universities in Nigeria whose approved carrying capacity is 600,000 students.
It is not surprising that Ghana has become a destination for many of the very large number of Nigerian students who do not gain access to higher education at home.
If we understood correctly, one billion US Dollar was entering Ghana as tuition fees and upkeep expenses, hence directly and indirectly driving growth in various universities and colleges and associated service providers. It will not be very difficult to understand why host of private and public universities (colleges) went on massive expansion drive since 2012-13.
Is the recent decision taken by H.E. Nigerian Head of State to discourage foreign study, not going to impact Ghanaian economic development? Still thousands of Nigerian students are studying in Ghanaian universities, how will they manage to pay their fees, if they will not be provided with US Dollars by banks back in Nigeria? How will Universities and Colleges having majority of their students from Nigeria, survive in short and long run? Is this One Billion Dollar, which is greater than the IMF assistance to Ghana, a small amount to lose?
This recent decision should serve as a wake up call for authorities back in our country to open up channels of discussion to maintain Ghana as a top education destination in Africa and allow non-restrictive movement of students across the continent. I have been debating this on multiple platforms that Ghana has to be promoted through official channels as one of the top-most destination for higher education in Africa. This will also reduce our over reliance on one foreign country student population for USD.
And Definitely A Billion Dollar Loss to Ghana should be avoided.
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