Francis Ansah
3 Publications in AERD
Author Publications
Export PDFGhanaian private higher education providers: are they becoming endangered species?
By Patrick Swanzy
In Ghana, private higher education institutions’ (PHEIs) share of gross tertiary enrolment is on the decline in the midst of growing demand for tertiary education. Whether this is, an indication of PHEIs in Ghana becoming endangered species in the higher education space has received limited research attention. Through documentary reviews and interviews of purposively selected 22 key informants, including Presidents, Vice Presidents, Registrars, Finance Officers of PHEIs and Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) Academic Auditors, this study investigates the viability and sustainability of PHEIs in Ghana. Resource Dependency Theory guided the study. The emerging issues, which relate to dynamics of students’ enrolments, funding, affiliation policy, staffing and innovativeness provide indicative realities of short-term viability and long-term sustainability of PHEIs in Ghana that make them appear endangered species. The study concludes that PHEIs in Ghana are vulnerable with respect to their short-term operational viability and long-term sustainability which make them appear endangered species with a plausible implication of heightening the pressure on the public purse to expand and or establish more public HEIs in order to meet the ever-increasing demand for higher education. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to EAIR - The European Higher Education Society 2023.
Mapping higher education policymaking in Ghana with a quadruple helix framework
By Francis Ansah
Whilst research works have identified many actors involved in higher education public policymaking in the Ghanaian context, there is a paucity of empirical studies on how the application of a quadruple helix network of policy actors considered essential constituents of higher education provision could create added value to strengthen the policymaking ecosystem in Ghana. Using multiple data collection techniques including, document analysis, in-depth interviews and analytic memoing, this paper examines deeper insights into higher education public policymaking in Ghana from the perspective of a quadruple helix framework of policymaking and argues for an added value in the use of quadruple helix framework in higher education policymaking. The emerging issues show that higher education public policymaking in Ghana does not involve the key quadruple helix of actors in the higher education provision equitably to create a sufficient coalition for policy implementation. Additionally, the emerging issues indicate that the minimal use of research evidence appears to be a major hindrance to a progressive and transformative higher education policymaking in Ghana. Against the backdrop of the emerging issues, we conclude that ineffective use of quadruple helix network of actors in higher education provision contributes to higher education policy implementation challenges in Ghana. © 2023 Society for Research into Higher Education.
Affiliation policy rhetoric and reality in the Ghanaian higher education context
By Francis Ansah
The present affiliation policy regime of Ghana’s higher education system has existed for more than two decades. However, empirical studies to examine the policy rhetoric and reality with regard to building quality assurance capacity in mentored institutions appear non-existent. This paper is based on an illustrative qualitative case study undertaken to examine the achievements and challenges of implementing the policy to build internal quality assurance capacities in mentored institutions. The study was guided by Institutional Theory using 12 key informant in-depth interviews and document reviews as data collection sources. The findings indicate a minimal achievement of the policy intent on internal quality assurance capacity building due to key implementation challenges such as a tripartite relationship structure; increasing cost on mentored institutions and increasing workload on mentor institutions. The study concludes that the gap between the policy rhetoric and reality in the studied mentored institutions appears undesirable and requires stakeholders’ attention. © 2019, © 2019 Association for Tertiary Education Management and the LH Martin Institute for Tertiary Education Leadership and Management.
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