GIJ increases admission application cost; becomes most expensive in Ghana

The Ghana Institute of Journalism has pegged its admission application cost for the 2019/2020 academic year at GHC 250.00 for regular undergraduate applicants, making it the most expensive among public universities in the country.

The application cost for the 2019/2020 academic year is a GHC 50.00 increase from last academic year’s.

Application cost for International applicants has also shot up from USD 100 to USD 120.

However, the cost for prospective Diploma students have been maintained at its GHC 200.00 cost.

GIJ’s upward review of its admission cost is similar to that of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology whose admission cost shot up from GHC 180.00 to GHC 200.00 for the 2019/2020 academic year.

Prospective applicants who wish to enroll in the communication specialized institution but would be sitting for the 2019 May/June WASSCE can apply for admission.

The school has set Friday, 28th June, 2019 as its deadline for the acceptance of application forms.

2019/2020 academic year admissions

At least, six of the nation’s public universities have announced their commencement of admissions for the 2019/2020 academic year.

These include the University of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, University of Education – Winneba, University of Cape Coast, University of Health and Allied Sciences and the University of Energy and Natural Resources.

The University for Development Studies is the only institution of these six yet to be clear on whether it is accepting applications from students who will be partaking in the 2019 West African Examinations Council’s May/June exams.

Cost of application forms

For the 2019/2020 admissions, forms of the University of Cape Coast is the second most expensive among high ranking public tertiary institutions in the country.

UCC is selling their forms at the cost of GHC 220.00 – a cost they have maintained since the 2016/2017 academic year.

KNUST and the University of Ghana, University of Education – Winneba and the University of Energy and Natural Resources follow with their forms selling at GHC 200.00 each.

UDS is so far the least expensive as they have pegged the cost of their application forms at GHC 180.00

Government to introduce centralized admissions system into tertiary institutions

The Minister of State in charge of Tertiary Education, Prof. Kwesi Yankah, at a workshop held in January 2019 in Koforidua hinted on government’s plan to introduce a placement system for admission into tertiary institutions in Ghana.

The Centralized University Admissions and Placement Service (CAPS) is to replace the current stressful and expensive system of applying to different universities.

Prof. Kwesi Yankah explained that the decision by government was influenced by a proposal received from a nine-member committee chaired by Professor Cliff Tagoe in the Tertiary Education Policy Document submitted on November 1, 2018 to the Ministry of Education.

“It is the proposal for a Centralised University Admissions and Placement Service (CAPS), which replaces the stressful and rather expensive system of applying to separate universities in Ghana with a centralised system, where the applicants list their choices of university on a single platform.

“A central administrative and technical setup then facilitates the process of placement,” the committee said.

About the Ghana Institute of Journalism

The school was established by the Kwame Nkrumah government to provide training in journalism towards the development of a patriotic cadre of journalists to play an active role in the emancipation of the African continent.

In 2006, the institute was elevated to a degree-awarding tertiary institution to award degrees to students who studied Communication Studies at the university.

GIJ has been operating for the past 60 years, and received a charter to become a fully fledged university in 2009.

However, the Ministry of Education has announced its plans to merge the school with the National Film and Television Institute and the Ghana Institute of Languages into one university, to be known as the University of Media Arts and Communication.

Currently, a bill to merge the three school has been laid before parliament.

According to the Education Ministry, the move became necessary when government observed that none of the Institutions qualified to be an independent University.

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Story by: Jeffrey Nyabor and Isaac Dadzie|universnewsroom.com