Private Universities Students Association of Ghana (PUSAG) on Thursday commended the government for its commitment towards improving teaching and learning at private tertiary institutions.

Mr. Alswel Annan, President of PUSAG, speaking at a Press conference in Accra said, the passage and the assent of the Education Regulatory Bodies Act had among other things helped restructure and merged existing institutions making affiliation and institutional mentorship a thing of the past.

He said, it had relieved private universities the burden of paying hefty affiliation fees to their associate universities, saying: “This has been a major setback to private universities. Some have not been able to graduate their students for two years due to the non-payment of affiliation fees”.

He expressed gratitude to the government for granting autonomy to two private universities, Pentecost University and All Nations University and appealed to the government to grant a presidential charter to other private universities that met the requirements.

Mr Annan praised the government for the introduction and implementation of the Free Senior High School (SHS) policy which had increased enrollment.

He lauded the government's initiative on the decentralization of scholarship, which was benefitting both public and private universities,adding, “We are pleased to hear that 150,000 free SHS graduates will enjoy tertiary scholarship”.

Mr Annan appealed to the Government to help expand the infrastructure in private universities to accommodate free SHS students in order to increase the quantum of scholarships extended to private university students.