Prof. Ahmed Jinapor Abdulai
Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) says it will soon initiate legal action against unaccredited tertiary education institutions that run unaccredited programmes by the Commission.
Deputy Director General of the Commission, Prof. Ahmed Jinapor Abdulai who revealed this during an interaction with the media said tertiary education institutions which have not been granted accreditation and issued with a certificate shall not “advertise, or cause to be published in any form or medium, information to attract potential students to enroll or register with the institutions”.
According to him, the education Regulatory bodies Act, 2020 (Act 1023) states that, “A tertiary education institution shall not operate or run a programme without accreditation by the board”
Citing the example of some tertiary education institutions such as the University of Ghana and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology where a number of programmes run by these institutions were unaccredited.
He therefore cautioned tertiary institutions against the practice and urged them to comply with the provisions of the Act in order to prevent the wrath of the Commission.
He further advised parents to check the accreditation status of tertiary institutions before choosing programmes for their wards while advising the public not to fall prey to institutions that offers admissions to students who do not have the basic requirement of english, maths and science.
According to him, section 19 (6) of the Education regulatory bodies Act further mandates media houses to inspects accreditation certificate of Institutions and its programmes and confirm with the Commission before it advertises any form of information.
Prof. Jinapor further stated that failure by any media house to adhere to the provisions as stipulated in section 36(1)(h) of Act 1023 “commits an offense and is liable on summary conviction to a fine of not less than ten thousand penalty units and not more than twenty thousand penalty units or to a term of imprisonment of not less than fifteen years”.
He further assured the public of the Commission’s preparedness to provide quality service to all its stakeholders.
By Ebenezer K. Amponsah