Tertiary institutions to consider WASSCE grade D7 for admission

The Minister in charge of Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum has encouraged various public tertiary institutions in the country to consider Senior High School graduates with grade D7 in WASSCE for admission for the next academic year.

Speaking at the swearing-in and inauguration of Governing Councils of some public technical Universities, the Minister for Education said aggregate D7 should not be a barrier to a student’s admission into the tertiary.

“Our gross tertiary enrollment ratio is 18.8%, South Korea is 73.6%, so no nation has been able to show transformation without hitting 40 to 50% tertiary enrollment ratio,” the Bosomtwe Member of Parliament told teachers at the event.

Dr Adutwum said President Akufo-Addo as part of efforts to ensure all free SHS beneficiaries continue their education at the tertiary level has added more diploma programmes to the programmers offered by various institutions.

“President has set an agenda of 40%, what it also means is that you have to start looking at your programmes, more diploma programmes so that students sitting home with D7 will find a place in your institution,” he stated.

“There are institutions saying they are not getting the numbers, but what how about supporting students offering courses in diploma, electrical engineering, if you support them you’re going to see the numbers going up,” he noted,

“So we shouldn’t see D7 as a barrier for students accessing tertiary. We must support them to take various diploma programmes so that after that they can go to work,” the Teaching Minister told heads of tertiary institutions.

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Currently, most public universities have set C6 as the least grade a student can get in the WASSCE to qualify for enrollment however Adutwum is of the view students with grade D7 should be given the chance to prove themselves.