The Governing Board of the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) is to decide on the conferment of a honourary doctorate (Ph.D.) degree by institutions that had received a presidential charter but did not offer a doctorate degree programme.
Speaking at a press conference on Friday, the Director General of GTEC, Professor Ahmed Jinapor Abdulai, said that it had taken notice of the concerns raised by the public on the mandate of institutions that did not run doctorate degree programmes to confer honourary doctorates to individuals.
According to him, those concerns raised by the public were legitimate and would be channelled to the Governing Board of GTEC, the highest decision-making body of the Commission, to decide on the issue.
“In most instances, we’ve had institutions that are affiliated with other institutions and did not even have the mandate to issue certificates but were issuing out honourary certificates,” Prof. Abdulai said.
“What is even worse is that some unaccredited institutions lacking the legal mandate confer such honourary doctorates, and it is instructive for the general public to appreciate the distinction between academic and honourary degrees,” Prof. Abdulai elaborated.
He said that, “for you to issue a honourary doctorate as an institution, you need to be an institution that can issue certificates.”
The Director General said that it was right to honour individuals with a honourary doctorate in recognition of their contributions to society, as a number of prominent individuals, including President John Dramani Mahama and former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, had been recipients of such a degree.
However, he said that how such titles were used, especially in the documentation process by some recipients, was against the law.
Prof. Abdulai also emphasised that institutions in the country were not allowed to issue honourary professor titles, as such a title in the academic field was earned.
He emphasised that, “only a university’s Governing Council may confer such a title, either through promotion or direct appointment with appropriate academic qualifications.”
In addition, he noted that honourary professor titles that were conferred on individuals by foreign institutions without legitimate academic standards were not recognised by GTEC.
Prof. Abdulai said that the increasing use of honourary doctorate, professor, and chartered titles by prominent figures, including politicians and the clergy, was a cause of concern.
The use of such academic title, Prof. Abdulai said, was a violation of the Education Regulatory Bodies Act 1023, which mandates GTEC to regulate the use of higher education nomenclature and titles, including universities, colleges, emeritus, professor, doctor, chartered, and other related terms.
GTEC, Prof. Abdulai said, had cautioned the general public on the use of honorary degrees titles and also engaged individuals who were involved in the practice.
