Vision
To become a trusted public sector educational financing agency that sustainably manages assigned government resources
About Us
GHANAN EDUCATION TRUST FUND
Since its establishment in the year 2000,
The fund has remained committed to it's mandate espouse in it's governing legislation, the GETFund Act (Act 581), to provide funding to supplement government effort for the provision of educational infrastructure and facilities with the public sector.
GETFund has played a significant role in this country’s education sector not only by way of physical infrastructure, but also through the enhancement of our human capital by way of scholarships.
The law further stipulates that some crucial factors related to Education delivery and development are taken into account in the process of preparing this Formula.
These relevant factors are:
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Mission
To support the delivery of quality education to Ghanaians from the basic to tertiary level through dynamic funding policies aimed at ensuring equitable provision of essential resources for all levels of education
History
The Issue of Educational Financing
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The Cost Sharing Policy
In Ghana, like most African countries, due to government's inability to finance tertiary education wholly, the idea of cost sharing was introduced in 1997 through the adoption of the Akosombo Accord (NCTE, 1998). This idea of cost sharing divided responsibility for university funding between the government (responsible for 70 percent of total funding) and 30 percent from three other sources including internal revenue-generation by the university, private donations and students‟ tuition fees.
Public Response & Agitation
However, the introduction of cost sharing policies in the country yielded negative response from the public. The policy was not only politicized and attacked by Ghanaians but it also created severe inequalities making higher education the preserve of the socially privileged (Atuahene, 2006).
The Proposal
In the light of this there were various agitations by most groups especially the National Union of Ghana students (NUGS) for the abolition of the policy. As a result, there was a growing recognition among the public for a policy solution to the educational mess (Brenya & Asare, 2011).
Consequently, NUGS came out with an initial proposal for the establishment of an Educational Security and Insurance Trust Fund (ESITF) and Tertiary Education Endowment Fund as alternatives to the cost sharing (NCTE, 1998). The president incorporated this proposal into his annual address to parliament in January 1999 and recommendations were subsequently made by a technical committee regarding its broad objectives and outlines (Harsch, 2000).
The dialogue on Funding
The dialogue on funding tertiary education coincided with proposed introduction of a new tax, the Value Added Tax (VAT) in 1995. The proposed VAT was to be charged on the cost orprice of imports, locally manufactured goods and services, at the rate of 17.5%. This sparked off public riots dubbed “kume- preko” meaning kill me completely (Quarshie, 2009). As a result of the public riots, the tax was withdrawn. In 1998 the VAT was reintroduced but at the rate of 10% after several consultations by the government. The 10% VAT rate was approved by parliament.
Additional Issues
The Establishment
The reintroduced VAT provided an opportunity to address the question of funding for an educational Trust. The Ministry of Education suggested that an additional 2.5% should be imposed on the VAT to be used as source of funds to support education in the country. After several deliberations by the Ministry of Education and other stakeholders, the funding proposal was accepted. This paved the way for the establishment of the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GET-Fund).Through an Act of Parliament 2000, (Act 581) the Ghana education trust fund was established to address the issues of educational financing in Ghana.
MEET OUR
Management Team
Dr. Richard A. Boadu
Administrator
Mr. Joseph B. Denteh
Deputy Administrator
Ms. Naana N. Sarpong
Administration / Legal
Mr. Alexis K. Asuinura
Financial Controller
Mr. Godfred Schandorf
Ag. Head Projects (M&E)
Mr. Paul Nafrah
Internal Audit
