In 2017, the Minister of State in charge of Tertiary Education, Professor Kwesi Yankah, announced plans by government to merge the two bodies as part major policy changes in the tertiary education system.

[contextly_sidebar id=”kbU90TofEcFmV0wK3LHJl9JghwYItWuo”]The move is also to limit the many bureaucratic procedures in their operations.

Speaking to Citi News, the spokesperson of the Committee, Professor Jonathan Nar Ayertey, said the committee was hopeful that the recommendations made will be implemented.

“Our recommendation is that the two bodies should be merged. As part of our work we had interactions with a large number of people… our conclusions are based not on what NAB wants or the NCTE wants but listening to all the presentations. Our view is that they would operate better if they were put together under one unit. They will still carry out their individual assignments but this time, there would be one organization that will superintend over all of them, Prof Ayertey stated.

This new regulatory body is expected to be known as the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC), which will be headed by a director-general, with three deputies, each of whom will be assigned clear-cut roles.

The Committee is chaired by a former Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Prof. Jerome Djangmah, and it has Prof. J.N. Ayertey, Mr. Kwesi Eshun, Mrs Lucy Brimpong Ayeh and Ms Ecclis Andoh as other members.

Mandate of the NCTE and NAB

The NCTE was established in 1993, to among others advise the Education Minister on the development of tertiary institutions in Ghana.

It also recommends national standards and norms, including standards and norms on staff, costs, accommodation and time utilization for the approval of the Minister.

Additionally, the Council is required to monitor the implementation of any approved national standards and norms by the institutions, and to advise the Minister generally on rates of remuneration and other conditions of service of staff  members of the institutions.

The NAB, on the other hand, was established under the National Accreditation Board Act 2007, Act 744, as the government’s agency responsible for the regulation, supervision and accreditation of tertiary institutions in the country.

It also advises the President on the granting of charter to private tertiary institutions.

–

By: Kojo Agyeman/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Committee for NCTE, NAB merger hopeful of implementation appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The 2015 Auditor General’s Report indicted the Board on various counts of infractions; including unrecovered GHc 300,000, failure to submit its internal revenue expenditure returns for over GHc 4.6 million, paying unapproved allowances of over GHc 720,000 and using over GHc 5,000 thousand Ghana cedis of its Internal Generated funds to pay personnel.

[contextly_sidebar id=”i6KvRSlHKMaHOomZRMimUWpMRgrC343F”]The Education Minister, Matthew Opoku Prempeh lamented the rot at the National Accreditation Board saying it was being run like a circus.

“I want to plead that the maybe we ask the Auditor Generals to go back to that institutions. For the circus that is going on, I am not happy at all. Since I became the Minister of Education, if there is one institution a lot of petitions have come against on internal controls, it’s the NAB.”

“…So I will plead with the Chair to specifically let the auditors go in again and do a specific audit and come so that we take it up specifically because it is getting too much and we are not happy.”

He also revealed that he had asked the Minister in-Charge of Tertiary Education to invite key persons from the Accreditation Board to his office so they can “give better explanations.”

Despite this report referring to affairs in 2015, Dr. Opoku Prempeh had little confidence the situation had improved.

He noted that “the internal audit agency was there recently on some of these similar situations so I don’t think that sitting here, and having the knowledge that I have, the institution probably has changed. We need to go and do a specific audit there and give specific recommendations…”

The Accreditation Board is mandated to accredit both public and private tertiary institutions with regard to the contents and standards of their programmes.

It also determines the programme and requirements for the proper operation of that institution to ensure they are up to standards.

The NAB is supposed to publish a list of accredited public and private institutions at the beginning of the calendar year and advise the President on the grant of a Charter to a private tertiary institution.

–

By: Sixtus Dong Ullo/Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post PAC orders re-audit of ‘circus’ at Accreditation Board appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.