The National Accreditation Board (NAB) is out-performing the National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE) in the determination of what constitutes relevant programmes or courses and worth teaching in the over 100 tertiary institutions across the country, Professor Goski Alabi has noted.
Prof. Goski, Dean of Center for International Education and Collaboration (CIEC) at the University of Professional Studies (UPS) Alabi was speaking on the topic, 'Quality of Higher Education in Ghana; The key Issues', at her maiden inaugural lecture at the UPS in Accra.
According to her, the NCTE which is the mandated body for relevance-check of the academic programme, has not been effective largely due to the enormity of academic responsibility placed on it.
‘The determination of relevance of academic programme is currently the responsibility of the NCTE but as to what forms the basis of relevant progammes for the NCTE am not sure of. NCTE normally ask the institution that is applying to justify why they think the new programme they are seeking to introduce is relevant’ Prof. Alabi said.
The National Accreditation Board which plays a similar role in assessing the relevance of new programmes undergoes a rigorous process by tasking institutions to establish the philosophy behind new programmes and what indicates that the new programme is unique from other programmes, Prof Alabi noted.
Meanwhile, Prof. Alabi has charged the NCTE and the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) to come up with a comprehensive data on the demand and supply of higher education graduates in the Country.