VCs risk 20 years’ imprisonment over unapproved courses
It is now an offence, with severe penalties, for a tertiary institution to advertise or run a programme for which it has no accreditation.
This follows the coming into force of the Education Regulatory Body Act, 2020 (Act 1023).
The penalties include either paying a fine of not more than GH¢240,000 or the vice-chancellor (VC)/rector of the institution concerned going to prison for up to 20 years or both.
The Commissioner of the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC), Professor Mohammed Salifu, made this known in an interview with the Daily Graphic.
New act
The new act has scrapped the affiliation policy and requires all existing private university colleges currently under affiliation to expedite action towards chartering.
Before the act, any newly established private university was required to go into an affiliation with an existing chartered private university or any public university for a period of at least 10 years before seeking for a charter.
Prof. Salifu explained that “while easing the pathway to charter, we also have to make sure that people are held responsible”.
The same law created the GTEC to regulate the tertiary education sub-sector.
