50% Attrition Rates in Africa’s Tertiary Institutions — Ghana Education Minister

Last updated on September 11th, 2021 at 03:30 pm

Minister of State for Tertiary Education, Ghana, Professor Kwesi Yankah, says there is an estimated students’ attrition of almost 50 per cent in tertiary institutions within Africa.

He said there is a low gross enrolment ratio in tertiary education within Africa, and that an abysmally low percentage of those whose ages fall within the bracket of 19 and 24 go through tertiary education.

Professor Yankah spoke as the special guest of honour at the opening ceremony of an eight-day workshop tagged ‘Western Hub Training,’ jointly organised by the University of Ghana (UG), Legon; Pedagogical Leadership in Africa (PedaL) and Master of Research and Public Policy, supported by the UK Department For International Development (DFID) under the Strategic Partnerships for Higher Education Innovation and Reform (SPHEIR), held at the UG and Swiss Spirit Hotel and Suites, Accra, Ghana.

“Our dropout rate only signals the lack of satisfaction among students with the environment in which they study,” he said.

Yankah further noted that Africa’s tertiary institutions almost exclusively concentrate on research and publication, sometimes considering effective teaching as an afterthought or an intrusion.