'We are too focused on titles' - UG Vice-Chancellor condemns craze

Outgoing Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana has condemned the desire for academic titles as a measure of a person’s social status.

Professor Ernest Aryeetey observed on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show Tuesday, that in Ghana today “people will do anything to get a title.”

He said titles describe and reveal a person’s vocation or profession. This is why a title such as General suggest the person is in the army.

He questioned why a civil servant should be keen to be addressed as a professor when he is not teaching or a

“I am Professor Aryeety because I teach in a university if I was not teaching in a university I would not be qualified to be called Professor Aryeetey,” the Vice-Chancellor explained.

According to him, the society’s respect for titles and status is fueling a craze for academic qualifications.

He observed that Ph.D. candidates are failing to graduate because the motive for the qualification is questionable.

“We are so engrossed in a discussion of who is bigger than who, who has a bigger status than whom”, Prof. Aryeetey condemned.

Story by Ghana|myjoyonline.com|EA