GTEC to open ‘tertiary’ accreditation process offices in two regions

The management of the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) is planning to decentralize the accreditation process by opening two new offices in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region and Tamale in the Northern Region respectively.

The Acting Director-General of GTEC, Ahmed Jinapor Abdulai told Parliament on February 15, 2023, when he appeared before the Public Accounts Committee to answer queries cited against GTEC in the Report of the Auditor-General.

Briefing Parliament on the Auditor-General report for the period ended 31st December 2022, Professor Jinapor indicated that there is too much culture of non-adherence when it comes to accreditation in the country.

Explaining the policies put in place to avoid delay in accrediting new programmes, the GTEC Director noted that they have set up an Accelerated Accreditation Committee that works in tandem with the normal Accreditation Office to ensure that documents are effectively verified and speedily worked on.

The Ghana Tertiary Education Commission official pointed out that until the Committee was set up, the Commission was accrediting between 400 and 600 programmes on average but now it’s accrediting 1,024 in the last quarter.

In addition, Professor Abdulai Jinapor noted that the Commission will soon launch the Accreditation Management Information System, which would allow applicants to digitally apply without necessarily visiting the Commission offices.

The Director General of the Tertiary Education Commission commended Members of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) for bringing to the fore the problem of delay in issuing accreditation to new programmes in various tertiary institutions.

He said his outfit since October 2023 had put on hold accreditation for new programmes and implemented policies to clear all the backlog when PAC announced to meet GTEC and Vice-Chancellors of Universities to ascertain the issue of delay in accrediting new programmes