The Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) has launched a digital platform named the Accelerated Accreditation Approach to streamline the accreditation processes for universities and programs, aiming to reduce waiting periods by half.
The announcement was made by the Director-General of GTEC, Professor Ahmed Jinapor, during a courtesy call on Vice-Chancellors Ghana (VCG) at their 76th meeting held at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).
Professor Jinapor explained the purpose of the digital platform, stating, “The decision to introduce the platform was to ensure that the GTEC cleared any backlog of accreditation issues so that all programs were in good standing within the shortest possible time.”
He urged Vice-Chancellors (VCs) to ensure their Quality Assurance staff expedite their processes to avoid delays.
The meeting between GTEC and VCG also covered updates on accreditations, issues of office holdings, and satellite campuses of various universities.
Prof. Jinapor praised the current leadership of VCG for their commitment to rectifying issues inherited from previous administrations.
In October, GTEC suspended the processing of new accreditation applications for academic programs from all public universities, including technical universities, until January 1, 2024.
The suspension aimed to sanitize the accreditation space due to non-compliance by some institutions with the country's accreditation requirements.
The University of Environment and Sustainable Development (UESD) at Somanya in the Eastern Region was exempt from the suspension.
Addressing the meeting, Prof. Jinapor commended VCG for its vital role in tertiary education development and expressed GTEC's readiness to collaborate for the transformation of the nation through education.
The President of VCG, Prof. Rita Akosua Dickson, pledged to continue engaging with GTEC, emphasizing the need for ongoing collaboration to enhance education outcomes in the country.
Prof. Dickson commended GTEC for introducing innovations to expedite accreditation processes at universities.
