National Accreditation Board Calls On Vice Chancellor

 A group picture after the visit

The National Accreditation Board (NAB) has paid a courtesy call on the Vice Chancellor, Professor Ebenezer Oduro Owusu. The call which sought to introduce the new Executive Secretary of the board, Dr. Kingsley Nyarko generated pertinent discussions.

The Vice Chancellor used the occasion to ask the public to stop using honorary titles and called on the National Accreditation Board (NAB) to be ruthless in applying the sanctions. According to Prof. Oduro Owusu people pay money and are given honorary titles such as Professor and Doctor, among other degree titles which they use to their advantage, he explained. He noted that they were not supposed to be pre-fixed when the users had not earned them, adding that; the masses had to be educated. “When people had gone through pain, spent time and resources to earn such titles, others just give themselves titles to get fame and this shows how dishonest the society is”, The Vice Chancellor pointed out.

He blamed some journalists, who encouraged the practice and advised them to do a background check before publicising or acknowledging people with academic titles, noting that this culture of dishonesty is even pervasive among religious leaders, politicians, those in the entertainment industry and others.

Prof Owusu further called on the NAB to classify universities in order to attract the associated benefits as well as recognition. This he said will promote healthy competition with those at the bottom aspiring to climb higher. The Pro-Vice Chancellor (Academic and Student Affairs), Prof. Samuel Kwame Offei, added to the call by suggesting a tier-system for the classification.

According to Dr. Kingsley Nyarko, quality assurance was at the heart of accreditation; therefore NAB would ensure that lecturers were qualified, to help produce quality students. He expressed worry about how some teachers used fake credentials to get employed, adding that, measures would be put in place to flush out such individuals.

Dr. Nyarko explained that NAB was mandated to accredit institutions and programmes to ensure maintenance and promotion of quality standards in tertiary education and asked tertiary institutions that were not qualified to desist from giving out titles to members of the public.

Mrs. Colette Hukpati, Head of Department of the Accreditation Department, NAB, called on tertiary institutions not to accredit their schools alone but also their programmes, to ensure that their certificates were accepted not only in Ghana but internationally.

The NAB team comprised of Dr. Kingsley Nyarko, Executive Secretary, Mr. Saaka Sayati, Deputy Executive Secretary, Administration, Mr. John Dadzie – Mensah, Deputy Executive Secretary, Monitoring and Evaluation, Mr. Amoako Kissi – Evaluation Unit and Mrs. Collette Hukpati, Head of Accreditation

Also in attendance at the meeting were Provosts the University’s four Colleges, Prof. Patrick F. Ayeh-Kumi, Prof. Daniel Asiedu, Prof. Samuel Agyei-Mensah and Prof. Michael Tagoe as well as Mrs. Mavis Otoo-Ayeh, representing the Registrar, Mr. Nkansah, Senior Assistance Registrar at the office of the Vice-Chancellor and Mrs. Joanna Omaboe representing the Director of Public Affairs.