Any tertiary institution that continues to run programmes at unaccredited centres will have its accreditation for those programmes revoked, the Director-General of the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC), Professor Abdulai Jinapor, has said.
The move has become necessary following the proliferation of unaccredited centres for some of the traditional universities dotted across the country.
Prof. Jinapor, who issued the warning in an exclusive interview with the Daily Graphic, explained that accredited programmes were institution-specific and could, therefore, not be taught at different unaccredited centres.
Unaccredited centres
Currently, the GTEC has directed three public universities to desist from enrolling fresh students at 160 study centres being run as satellite centres.
The affected public universities are the University of Cape Coast (UCC), the University for Development Studies (UDS), and the University of Education, Winneba (UEW).
The UCC has the highest number of 91 centres, followed by the UEW with 48 centres, while the UDS has 21 such centres.
The majority of these centres used by the universities are either senior high schools (SHSs), colleges of education, church premises and social centres, with some of them on companies’ premises.
For instance, one of the centres being used by UCC is the Nsawam Prisons.
Signing of MoU
Prof. Jinapor explained that to help address the situation, GTEC signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with six universities that would not be allowed to use rented premises for their programmes. They are Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, University of Ghana, University of Media, Arts and Communication (UniMAC), University of Cape Coast, University of Education, Winneba, and GIMPA.
“They agreed that GTEC should give them the opportunity to teach the students because they already had them in the system.
“What we agreed based on the MoU was that in this year’s 2024/2025 academic year, they cannot admit students into those centres,” the Director-General of GTEC told the Daily Graphic, adding that it was also agreed that GTEC will do an audit to find out whether those admitted had the necessary minimum qualification.”
Prof. Jinapor explained that it has come to the notice of the commission that most of such centres, under the pretence of mature students, admitted people who did not have any qualifications.
He explained that the bedrock of mature students was relevant work experience and the minimum qualification, adding that the cliché that mature students did not need any qualification was untenable.
Prof. Jinapor clarified that GTEC was not against satellite campuses and study centres, “but what we are against is the proliferation of centres that are not fit for purpose.”
Auditing at centres
Prof. Jinapor further indicated that the students’ audit had been completed and that any student who had been admitted without the minimum requirement would be advised to withdraw.
“Secondly, it has also come to our attention that most of those who teach at these centres do not have the qualification to teach,” he said, adding that most of those teaching were people with first degree.
“You cannot have a first degree and be teaching first degree programmes. You cannot hold a diploma and be teaching diploma programmes. There must always be one step ahead and for us, to teach at a tertiary level, we require research masters’ holders as the minimum requirement,” Prof Jinapor explained further.
He warned that after the outcome of the audit, GTEC would share the data with the National Service Secretariat, the Students Loan Trust and the Scholarship Secretariat, explaining that “the law states that all institutions must have accredited programmes for the students to be able to source the services of these agencies.”
“We hope that these institutions will not admit new students based on the MoU that we had with them,” he said, adding that if there was any breach of the MoU, the law would be applied.
Prof. Jinapor advised applicants to stay away from such unaccredited centres and programmes, cautioning that applicants who pursued programmes at those centres “do so at their own risk.”
“Consequently, GTEC strongly urges parents, guardians and prospective students to avoid enrolling in programmes offered at these unaccredited study centres.
“GTEC will not recognise academic credentials awarded to students who enrolled with the UCC, UDS or UEW for the 2024/2025 academic year and studied at these unaccredited centres,” Prof. Jinapor added.
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