The Auditor-General’s 2021 report has revealed that 374 academic programmes at the University of Ghana are unaccredited.
Out of the 374 courses, 14 of them are Diploma programmes, 80 out of the 374 programmes are Undergraduate courses, Post-Graduate unaccredited courses are 213, and 67 PhD courses.
According to the Auditors, “We noted that the University advertised 374 academic programmes on the various web portals that had the accreditation expired or requires re-accreditation during the period under review,” portions of the report indicated.
The running of unaccredited courses is in contrast to Section 36 of the Education Regulatory Bodies Act, 2020 (Act 1023) which “provides that a person who runs or advertises a tertiary education programme that is not accredited; commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine of not less than ten thousand penalty units and not more than twenty thousand penalty units or a term of imprisonment of not less than 15 years and not more than 20 years, or to both.”
he Auditor-General recommended that the Management of the University should “expedite action for accreditation and re-accreditation of all new and expired academic programmes respectively.”
Management was also asked to “liaise with Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) to take retrospective accreditations to cover all the non-accredited certificates issued to students.”
Meanwhile, the Auditor-General’s report, noted that Management has responded to its recommendation.
In a related development, the report also revealed that some academic programmes offered by the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) have not been accredited.
The report dated June 1, 2022, was addressed to the Speaker of Parliament, Mr. Alban Bagbin.
According to details of the report, “out of the 360 programmes run by the University, only 61 have been accredited, 190 sent to National Accreditation Board (NAB) for accreditation and reaccreditation with 109 yet to be sent to NAB for accreditation.”
The Auditor-General has, therefore “recommended to Management to cease running programmes that are not accredited or having its accredited certificates expired, until they are accredited or renewed, to avoid sanctions by NAB.”
