Chairman, Governing Council of the Lagos City Polytechnic, Ikeja, Mr. Babatunde Odufuwa has called on government at all levels to put necessary administrative structures in place to grant aids to students in private tertiary institutions in the country.
The National Council for Higher Education has published a list of universities and other tertiary institutions and warned the public against enrolling in illegal institutions of learning.
The Prime Minister, Prof. Apolo Nsibambi, has cautioned private institutions of higher learning against charging students exaggerated amounts of money.
Revenue Authority has asked Uganda Christian University to pay corporation tax, which the university has appealed against. John Eremu and Bob Kisiki examine the impact of the demand on private higher education provision.
All students enrolling at private tertiary colleges and sitting for examinations set by the Zimbabwean Higher Education Examinations Council (Hexco) must have at least five "O" levels in terms of a new Government directive.
The Federal Executive Council on Wednesday in Abuja approved the issuance of provisional licences for the establishment of seven new private universities in the country. Nigeria currently has 96 universities, comprising 27 federal, 35 state and 34 private universities.
National Universities Commission (NUC) has approved 89 universities in the last 13 years. Among those approved between 1999 and 2012 by the agency are 50 private universities, 27states universities and 12 federal universities. This puts the total number of universities in Nigeria at 125.
We believe that the future of this nation lies with the private universities. When we say some of them are fledgling, it is because they will suffer from the pain of just beginning a programme, which forms the fulcrum of the issue.
Politicians have over the years been accused of not walking the talk in policy implementation especially when it comes to addressing the challenges facing the education sector.
The University of Buckingham in the UK last week announced that it had stopped accreditation of courses for a private university in Uganda over freedom of speech issues and the controversy surrounding the homosexuality bill in the East African country.
A decree by Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi to establish a national scientific research project has fuelled a 20-month dispute between the private Nile University and a research institution managed by Nobel Prize for Chemistry laureate Ahmed Zewail.
News usually thrives on controversy, so most of us would have no difficulty remembering J.A Kufour's last gesture as president, where he ordered the reinstatement of ACP Nathan Kofi Boakye with all his entitlements, and the public's reaction at the time. We would probably not remember that the NPP President had also promised $1billion as seed money to boost the capacity of one of the private universities in the country.
Mahama on Saturday urged owners of private tertiary institutions to maintain high standards, cautioning that government could withdraw their accreditation if found to be operating below standards.
Kenya has enacted higher education reforms aimed at streamlining and improving the management of university affairs. The Universities Act 2012, finally signed into law by President Mwai Kibaki this month, introduces far-reaching changes.
A US$150 million equity investment by the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) into US-based for-profit education company Laureate Education will help spearhead a push into Africa, in line with World Bank aims to develop post-secondary education and skills training on the continent.
The Private Universities Students’ Association of Ghana (PUSAG) has appealed to the Ministry of Education, to integrate them into the administration of tertiary education in Ghana.
Prof. Francis Kofi Ampanyin Allotey is calling on government to support Private Universities in the country so they can help in producing the human resource base of the country.