DAILY GRAPHIC, Wednesday, February 1, 2012, Pg. 3. Fifth Higher Education Fair launched

Story: Mary Ankrah

The Ministry of Education, in partnership with I-Texon Ghana, on Wednesday launched the fifth Higher Education Fair for 2012 aimed at enlightening students and parents on the various educational options available in Ghana.

The fair which is to take place in the southern and northern sectors of the country is on the theme: “Securing Our Tomorrow Today.”

This year’s event would be held at the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) Hall in Takoradi in the Western Region from March 1 to March 3, 2012, while the northern sector event at the Tamale Sport Stadium is from February 16 to February 18, 2012.

 The three-day event is expected to afford students, parents, teachers and the general public the opportunity to interact with representatives of higher education institutions with information on the available opportunities, general programmes of study and future prospects of the various courses offered by the higher institutions.

The fair is to expose the requirements for admission into accredited educational institutions and the expert training they offer in the selected fields of education.

 The cardinal goal of the Ghana Higher Education Fair would, therefore, provide a forum for interaction between stakeholders to seek solutions to problems encountered in the acquisition of tertiary education in the country.

At the official launch of the fair in Accra, the Chief Executive Officer of the I-Texon Ghana, Ms Catherine Haziel, called on parents and students to make good decisions by choosing accessible programmes available in the tertiary institutions, adding that education plays a vital role in making developments.

She said the fair was intended to create a channel to address problems students faced when applying to enter higher institutions.

 It is believed that inadequate information about the educational institutions and the programmes they offer to the pubic often result in students making uninformed choices about their future careers.

It is estimated that 150, 000 qualified students from over 577 senior high schools expect to enter the tertiary institutions but most private and some government institutions are not well publicised and as a result they are not well patronised.

Statistics show that there are over 250 higher education institutions in the country and the government institutions on the average can accommodate 35,000 students.

In the last three years the Ministry of Education has been a proud partner and facilitator of the annual higher education fair, the first of which was organised in 2008.

The fair will be organised throughout the country on annual basis in the regional capitals.