Abstract:
The study explored funding of infrastructural facilities in Ghanaian public
universities along the lines of opportunities for funding, adequacy of funds, areas
that institutions prioritise for funding and challenges associated with funding of
infrastructural facilities. The study adopted the quantitative approach, descriptive
research design and relied on descriptive statistics (frequency, percentages and
pie charts) to address the research objectives set for the study. A structured
questionnaire was used to gather data from 275 respondents, consisting of
academics in management positions and administrators in the three selected
public universities (UG, KNUST, and UCC) in Ghana for data analysis. The data
was processed using the IBM SPSS Statistics (version 26). The results showed
that public universities mostly fund their infrastructural facilities through
GETFund, grants from international donors, state-owned enterprises and
corporations like GNPC, VRA and VALCO. Again, the study found that lecture
rooms and residential halls are two most prioritised facilities that need funding.
Also, funds from the Government, royalty income, state-owned corporations and
GETFund were shown to be woefully inadequate. Finally, it was found that
inadequate private investment frameworks and political interferences were major
challenges to infrastructural facility funding. The study therefore concludes that
universities place high premium on infrastructural facilities that seek to promote
academic and research work. Again, private investment roles and nongovernmental
interferences are vital to infrastructural facility funding in
Ghanaian Public Universities. The study recommends that universities find other
innovative means of funding their infrastructure needs aside the already existing
mechanisms.
