Thousands of tertiary students’ future in limbo

• as over 30 private schools operate with expired accreditation

The futures of thousands of students in higher institutions of learning are in limbo, following revelations by the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) that as many as 33 private tertiary institutions in the country are currently operating with expired accreditation.

Institutions that have not been accredited by GTEC – regulator for higher institutions of learning, or have expired accreditation are all considered unaccredited.

The ramifications of operating a tertiary educational institution or programme of study without accreditation or approval from the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission are dire, as certificates from unaccredited schools are deemed invalid.

Apart from this, students with such certificates cannot pursue higher education or undertake the mandatory one-year national service – and the resources they might have invested must be considered.

Deputy Director-General of the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission, Prof. Ahmed Abdulai Jinapor, reacting to the development said accreditation processes exist to ensure tertiary institutions meet high-quality standards; and that students who are studying at unaccredited academic institutions face an uncertain future.

To help students know whether they are dealing with an accredited institution or not, GTEC – which has the mandate to regulate tertiary education in all its forms to promote efficient and effective administration and accreditation of tertiary education institutions – published a list of institutions with both accredited and expired accreditation on its website, with the specific dates.

The full list of over 30 unaccredited institutions can be found on the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission’s website.

Toying with students’ future

“You put the academic lives of students in jeopardy; because there are people who go to those schools, finish and get scholarships into foreign institutions – which then write to GTEC, only to find out that the programme or course the prospective student studied was not accredited,” the Executive Director of Eduwatch Africa, Kofi Asare, explained earlier.

Mr. Asare called for more to be done toward addressing the situation, including making the list of unaccredited schools and programmes readily available to the general public.

While the deputy Director-General of GTEC mid-last year cautioned that media outlets which advertise unaccredited tertiary institutions could face consequences, B&FT’s monitoring of the media space chanced upon some radio stations in Accra advertising admission openings for some of the institutions with expired accreditation.

“Media houses advertising unaccredited tertiary education institutions will face severe consequences under the Education Regulatory Bodies Act, 2020 (Act 1023), including imprisonment for a minimum of 15 years,” Prof. Ahmed Abdulai mentioned last year.

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